[miningmx.com] — MORE industry players have raised their concerns that African Exploration Mining & Financing Corporation (AEMFC), the state-owned miner, was receiving preferential treatment from the department of mineral resources.
AEMFC is in the process of snapping up 128 prospecting and mining rights.
The scope of AEMFC’s expected activities is broad – only in Mpumalanga the applications equate to the rights owned by Anglo American, said Koos Pretorius, mining expert and director of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment.
AEMFC itself does not have the capacity to be a mining operator. Nevertheless, many experts believe that mining licences would still be awarded to it.
The group is apparently intending to approach existing mining groups to operate, on a contract basis, the mines over which it has received rights.
AEMFC was intending to open the Vlakfontein mine near Ogies (which previously belonged to Anglo) with great fanfare at the end of last year, with President Jacob Zuma turning the first sod. After concerned environmental experts made enquiries to ensure that a water licence had in fact been obtained by AEMFC, the mine’s opening was suddenly cancelled, Pretorius said last week.
Chief executive Sizwe Madondo is well known for almost never speaking to the media.
He moreover imparts practically no information about the company – which is being funded with taxpayers’ money.
Several players have previously expressed great concern about the exemption that AEMFC received from the previous mines minister Buyelwa Sonjica in 2008, in terms of which its applications for mining rights did not have to comply with all the requirements applicable to other companies.
According to Peter Leon, of legal firm Webber Wentzel, Sonjica exceeded her powers by announcing in the Government Gazette that AEMFC was exempt from certain requirements.
In practice the exemption means that AEMFC has to submit a environmental management plan with its applications, but that it need not consult.
AEMFC can therefore draw up a generic environmental management plan (EMP) which it attaches to all its applications, Pretorius said.
But there are tremendous problems associated with drawing up an EMP without consultation.
For example, answers need to be given to questions on how water will be used, its source, how much will be used, as well as the productive yield of the soil, how many people live there, and so forth. Without these answers the impact cannot be determined, according to Pretorius.
Leon said that South Africa ought to establish an independent body to award mining licences and mining rights.
Government could not be judge, player and observer.
Chamber of Mines senior chief executive Frans Barker said the Chamber was not necessarily opposed to a state mining company, but that the playing field should be even.
– Sake24
