[miningmx.com] — Eight derelict or ownerless asbestos mines have been targeted for rehabilitation by the government’s Department of Mineral Resources, according to the minister Susan Shabangu.
Giving a written reply to a Parliamentary question from Erik Marais of the Democratic Alliance, who asked for details of her department’s top ten prioritised rehabilitation projects, Shabangu said that R24m is to be spent on rehabilitating the sites, four of which are in Limpopo and four in the Northern Cape.
She also told him that the Osizweni coal and clay site in KwaZulu Natal and the Lusikisiki quarry in Eastern Cape are to be rehabilitated and are also listed in the department’s top ten priority sites. Osizweni is budgeted to cost R120m, and Lusikisiki R54m.
“Osizweni and Lusikisiki projects will be implemented over three financial years in different phases,” she said, “while the eight asbestos sites will each be implemented over eight months to ten months.
“These projects will be implemented based on available funding, however, based on the medium to long term implementation plan being developed, National Treasury will be approached with a funding request calculated on the basis of the final projections in the implementation plan.”
