[miningmx.com] — THE mining rights of beleaguered Central Rand Gold (CRG) were cancelled on Monday during an unusual “surprise’ visit by top officials of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), accompanied by several journalists.
Johan du Toit, CEO of CRG, received the cancellation notice from DMR spokesperson Bheki Khumalo, the DMR’s regional head for Gauteng, Advocate Mmadikeledi Maleke, and Gauteng and North West manager Advocate Andre Cronje.
Before the visit, Khumalo had asked several media groups to meet him at CRG’s premises.
According to the notice, the mining right, which had been signed by Minister Susan Shabangu on September 22, had been cancelled because CRG had not given effect to its operational or social plans.
These plans are submitted when applying for a mining right and involve the setting out of future mining activities as well as community investments.
Earlier this month the Sunday Times reported that the DMR had warned CRG in August of the impending cancellation. The group had taken the controversial decision not to share the development within shareholders.
Du Toit said that CRG would appeal the notice. “It was a faulty decision,’ he said.
The situation is unsurprising as the group has for some years failed to decide on a workable mining method.
“When you receive a mining right you sign a contract with obligations. One expects these obligations to be correct and practical,’ Cronje told Sake24.
According to Cronje, CRG had undertaken to mine about 2.5 million tonnes of rock by the end of 2010. In fact the group had mined less than 200,000 tonnes. “That’s probably why it has no turnover to meet its social commitments.’
CRG’s ways have become well known after the group initially in 2007 announced its intentions to resuscitate old mining areas, next to Johannesburg, with an innovative mining technique that would not unsettle surrounding neighbourhoods.
This mining technique was never realised and large parts of CRG’s underground resource has apparently meanwhile been swamped by rising acid mine water.
The group recently abandoned its unconventional mining project and announced that it would investigate conventional mining in the area.
Cronje said the thing was that you needed to do that sort of testing before applying for a mining right.
You could not cannot simply fill in the boxes, he said, and then try to work out how you were going to get your mining plan to work.
The cancellation comes after a number of complaints “from the community’ about CRG’s failure to tackle its proposed projects, said Cronje.
CRG’s social plans were presented to the surrounding community by the former ex-con Kenny Kunene and his partner Gayton McKenzie, both of whom worked for CRG.
Cronje could not say whether the unannounced visit with media in tow was the usual way for mining rights to be cancelled. “We don’t do it very often, so there’s actually no usual way.’
