[miningmx.com] — AN online mineral rights application system – promised to eliminate human intervention from corrupting the process – will be launched by the department of mineral resources at the end of March.
Mines Minister Susan Shabangu said on Monday the system would come online as soon as the department lifts the moratorium on the acceptance of new prospecting rights applications.
The system would be able to accept applications for mining permits electronically, as well as prospecting and mining rights through the DMR’s website.
“The system that we are launching allows for online lodging of applications, progress reports and (to) view progress online and allows for efficient compliance monitoring,’ Shabangu said. “Compliant applicants should be able to receive acceptance letters instantly, while violation of licence conditions will be immediately exposed.’
Shabangu said the system would offer GIS-based spatial information, which for the first time allows the public to view the locality of issued rights and land in respect of which applications are being considered through the website.
The official processing the application would also be able to establish the environmental sensitivity status of an area online.
“Furthermore, it has completely uniform application evaluation procedures to ensure consistency and transparency, thus eliminating the possibility of human error in the evaluation process,” Shabangu said.
She said the department has developed standardised guidelines and templates for supporting documents, which would become available on the department’s website this week.
“The formats will be prescribed,’ said Shabangu.
She added the system would contain all information needed from other government departments, including deeds offices, township development areas and water pans.
“This will eliminate the current challenge where rights end up being granted over environmentally sensitive areas,’ Shabangu said.
The system would also address challenges of overlaps in properties being applied for, as it would not permit acceptance of applications with overlapping properties.
Guidelines and templates were live on the department’s website at 11:50 on Monday.
According to DMR director general Sandile Nogxina, the system cost R3.4m to develop and implement.
The announcement follows a torrid era in South African mining, in which the award of new order mining licences and prospecting permits has been questioned.
The department subsequently admitted it was unable to manage the rights system effectively; this had resulted in double grantings, overlaps and rights which could not be registered.
Shabangu said she will issue more information on the prospecting rights audit undertaken in September when she addresses the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Tuesday. She did, however, say that the moratorium should be lifted towards the end of March.
“The terms of reference of the audit deliberately commence with granted rights, because we discovered a significant number of rights which were never progressed to “issuing stage’, she said.
“A sum total of the number of prospecting rights that were issued, plus exploration commitments that were made, convey a story that South Africa had an excellent prospect of a boom in exploration activity.
“However, it was not the case as we all know.’
The audit also commenced with a review of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Development Act (MPRDA), which Shabangu earlier said contained some ambiguities.
These ambiguities, in one instance, led to platinum producer Lonmin being temporarily banned from selling related base metals after Keysha Investments 220 was awarded prospecting rights within Lonmin’s lease area.
Shabangu said the consultative and parliamentary processes related to making amendments to the MPRDA should be completed by the end of this year.
