Kareerand TSF Expansion Project Integrated Water Use License Application (IWULA) and Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP)
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63 Wessel Road, Rivonia, 2128 PO Box 2597, Rivonia, 2128 South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 11 803 5726 Fax: +27 (0) 11 803 5745 Web: www.gcs-sa.biz Kareerand TSF Expansion Project Integrated Water Use License Application (IWULA) and Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Report Version – Draft for Public Review 04 March 2020 Chemwes (Pty) Ltd GCS Project Number: 17-0026 GCS (Pty) Ltd. Reg No: 2004/000765/07 Est. 1987 Offices: Durban Gaborone Johannesburg Lusaka Maseru Ostrava Pretoria Windhoek Directors: AC Johnstone (Managing) PF Labuschagne AWC Marais S Napier W Sherriff (Financial) Non-Executive Director: B Wilson-Jones www.gcs-sa.biz Chemwes (Pty) Ltd Kareerand Expansion Project Kareerand TSF Expansion Project Integrated Water Use License Application (IWULA) and Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Report Version – Draft for Public Review 04 March 2020 Chemwes (Pty) Ltd 17-0026 DOCUMENT ISSUE STATUS Report Issue Draft for Public Review GCS Reference Number 17-0026 Kareerand TSF Expansion Project Title Integrated Water Use License Application (IWULA) and Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Name Signature Date Author Shayna-Ann Cuthbertson 04 March 2020 Document Reviewer Kate Cain 04 March 2020 Client Review John van Wyk 04 March 2020 LEGAL NOTICE This report or any proportion thereof and any associated documentation remain the property of GCS until the mandator effects payment of all fees and disbursements due to GCS in terms of the GCS Conditions of Contract and Project Acceptance Form. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, any reproduction, duplication, copying, adaptation, editing, change, disclosure, publication, distribution, incorporation, modification, lending, transfer, sending, delivering, serving or broadcasting must be authorised in writing by GCS. 17-0026 04 March 2020 Page ii Chemwes (Pty) Ltd Kareerand Expansion Project EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background Chemwes (Pty) Ltd (Chemwes), also known as Mine Waste Solutions (MWS), has been in business since 1964, and conducts its operations over a large area of land to the east of Klerksdorp, within the area of jurisdiction of the City of Matlosana and JB Marks Local Municipalities (LM), which fall within the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality (DM) in the North‐West Province. The MWS/Chemwes Operations are located primarily to the south of the N12, east of the town of Stilfontein. The closest town is Khuma, located about 3km northwest of the facility. Other nearby towns include Stilfontein (10km from facility) and Klerksdorp (19km from facility). The operations at Chemwes/MWS entail the collection and reprocessing of mine tailings that were previously deposited on Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs) in order to extract gold and uranium. High pressure water cannons are used to slurry the tailings on the Source TSFs. The slurry is then pumped by a number of pump stations and pipelines to the MWS/Chemwes Processing Plant. The residue from the processing plants is then pumped to the current Kareerand TSF. Once an old Source TSF has been completely recovered, it is cleaned‐up and rehabilitated. The existing Kareerand TSF was designed with an operating life of 14 years, taking the facility to 2025, and total design capacity of 352 million tonnes. Subsequent to commissioning of the TSF, Chemwes/MWS was acquired by AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) and tailings production target has increased by an additional 485 million tonnes, which will require operations to continue until 2042. The additional tailings, therefore, requires expansion of the design life of the current TSF. This project entails the expansion of the current Kareerand TSF to accommodate the increased tailings and final design capacity, along with additional pump stations and pipelines from old source TSFs. The TSF expansion is proposed on the western edge of the current facility, and the final height of the combined facility (both expansion and current) will be 122m. The expansion footprint will add 380 hectares (ha) to the TSF and approximately 93 additional hectares will be cleared for supporting infrastructure. Chemwes was issued with an Integrated Water Use License (IWUL) by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) on the 30th November 2018 (License no. 08/C24BAACIG/8368) to authorise water uses triggered by the current TSF in terms of Section 21 of the National Water 17-0026 04 March 2020 Page iii Chemwes (Pty) Ltd Kareerand Expansion Project Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998) (NWA). The following water uses were licensed in terms of Section 21 of the NWA: • Section 21(a) – Taking water from a water resource; • Section 21(c) – Impeding or diverting the flow of water in a watercourse; • Section 21(g) – Disposing of waste in a manner which may detrimentally impact on a water resource; and • Section 21(i) – Altering the bed, banks, course or characteristics of a watercourse. GCS Water and Environment (Pty) Ltd (GCS) were appointed to undertake the Integrated Water Use License Application (IWULA) process in order to authorise the water uses triggered by the Kareerand TSF Expansion. Water Uses to be licenced As a result of the TSF Expansion, additional water uses have been identified that require authorisation in terms of Section 21 of the NWA. The following additional water uses are required to be licenced for this phase of the project: ● Section 21(a) – Taking water from a water resource: o Abstraction of contaminated groundwater seepage from interception boreholes. ● Section 21(c) – Impeding or diverting the flow of water in a watercourse: o Infrastructure which occurs within 500m of a wetland. ● Section 21(g) – Disposing of waste in a manner which may detrimentally impact on a water resource: o Construction of Return Water Dams for collection of return and storm water; and o Disposal of mine residue (slurry) into TSF (TSF Expansion). ● Section 21(i) – Altering the bed, banks, course or characteristics of a watercourse: o Infrastructure which occurs within 500m of a wetland; and o Construction of storm water diversion channel to divert storm water into the Vaal River. This report serves as the technical document to authorise all water uses triggered by the TSF expansion. This document has been compiled in the format of an Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) in line with the requirements of the DWS operational Guideline dated 2010. Potential Environmental Impacts 17-0026 04 March 2020 Page iv Chemwes (Pty) Ltd Kareerand Expansion Project The following potential impacts relating to groundwater, wetlands and surface water will have to be monitored and evaluated: • Impact of groundwater contamination during construction and operational phase; • Impact on groundwater depletion during construction and operational phase; • Impact on surface water quality during construction and operational phase; • Impact on surface water quantity; • Changes in water flow regime; • Changes in sediment entering and exiting the system; • Introduction and spread of alien plants; and • Loss and disturbance of watercourse habitat and fringe vegetation. These impacts have been identified and mitigation measures provided and detailed in Section 5.5 of this report. Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan As there are waste related uses associated with the proposed development, this application report has been structured in line with the approved Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Operational Guideline compiled by the DWS. The main purpose of this IWWMP is to consolidate all the various site-specific activities such as storm water management, water reuse, water conservation, waste minimisation and recycling into a simple implementable management plan. The IWWMP is therefore a living document that will be revised and updated throughout the life of the operations and as per the IWUL conditions to accommodate additional information and improved technologies. These will ensure that water and waste management is continually optimised and adapted to the changing needs of the mine and the Water Management Area (WMA). Overall Recommendation This report serves as the motivation document for the authorisation of new water uses for the Kareerand TSF Expansion. It is hereby recommended that the water use be authorised under a water use licence issued by the DWS for a period of 25 years with a review period of 5 years. 17-0026 04 March 2020 Page v Chemwes (Pty) Ltd Kareerand Expansion Project Relevant Included? section of Information (Yes/No) IWWMP Report Evaluate to determine if the following aspects are addressed in the FINAL / BRIEF APPLICATION (IWWMP) REPORT: Introduction 1.1 Activity Background Yes 1.1 1.2 Contact Detail Yes 1.2 1.3 Regional setting and location of activity Yes 1.3 1.4 Property description Yes 1.4 1.5 Purpose of IWWMP Yes 1.5 Conceptualisation of activity 2.1 Description of activity Yes 2.1 2.2 Extent of activity Yes 2.2 2.3 Key activity related processes and products Yes 2.3 2.4 Activity life description Yes 2.4 2.5 Activity infrastructure description Yes 2.5 2.6 Key water uses and waste streams Yes 2.6 2.7 Organisational structure of activity Yes 2.7 2.8 Business and corporate policies Yes 2.8 Regulatory water and waste management framework 3.1 Summary of all water uses Yes 3.1 3.2 Existing lawful water uses Yes 3.2 3.3 Relevant exemptions Yes 3.3 3.4 Generally authorized water uses Yes 3.4 3.5 New water uses to be licensed Yes 3.5 3.6 Waste management activities (NEMWA) Yes 3.6 3.7 Waste related authorizations Yes 3.7 3.8 Other authorizations (EIAs, EMPs, RODs, Regulations)