EA Application Form
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1 MP 30/5/1/2/2/10268 MR APPLICATION FORM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATIONS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998 AND THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WASTE ACT, 2008 IN RESPECT OF LISTED ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED BY APPLICATIONS IN TERMS OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (MPRDA) (AS AMENDED). IMPORTANT NOTICE Kindly note that: 1. As from 8 December 2014, this document serves as the application form, and incorporates the requisite documents that are to be submitted together with the application for the necessary environmental authorisations in terms of the said Acts. 2. This application form is applicable while the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act of 2008 is in effect, as the form may require amendment should the Act be further amended. 3. Applicants are required to apply for the necessary water use licence and any other authorisations or licences to the relevant competent authorities as required by the relevant legislation. Upon acceptance of an application for a right or permit in terms of the MPRDA, applicants will be required to provide evidence to the Regional Manager that a noting of intent to apply for a water use licence has been lodged with the Department of Water and Sanitation 4. The Regional Manager will respond to the application and provide the reference and correspondence details of the Competent Authority, and in the event that the application for a right or permit is accepted, together with the date by which the relevant environmental reports must be submitted. Notwithstanding anything that may appear to be stated to the contrary in the acceptance letter, the timeframes are in fact aligned and the prescribed timeframes for the submission of documents as regulated by the NEMA regulations must be strictly adhered to. 5. The application must be typed within the spaces provided in the form. The sizes of the spaces provided are not necessarily indicative of the amount of information to be provided. Spaces are provided in tabular format and will extend automatically when each space is filled with typing. 6. The failure to submit complete information as required in this application form may result in the refusal of the application for an environmental authorisation and consequently of the right or permit applied for. 7. This application must be submitted through the SAMRAD online application system of the Department of Mineral Resources under “Other documents to upload”. 8. Unless protected by law, all information filled in on this application form will become public information on receipt by the competent authority. Any interested and affected party should and shall be provided with the information contained in this application on request, during any stage of the application process. 9. Please note that an application fee is payable in terms of the National Environmental Management Act and the National Waste Management Act, which fees must be paid upon lodgement of the application. Should the said application fees not be paid as prescribed the application for a right or permit in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act cannot be considered to have been made in the prescribed manner and the said application for a right or permit will have to be rejected. In this regard the type of applications must be identified in the table below. 10. Any other Information to be attached as annexures under Section 11 of this form. 2 PLEASE STATE TYPE OF AUTHORISATIONS BEING APPLIED FOR. APPLICATION TYPE APPLICABLE FEE Mark with an X where applicable NEMA S&EIR application on its own R10 000.00 NEMA BAR application on its own R 2 000.00 NEMWA S&EIR application on its own R10 000.00 NEMWA BAR application on its own R 2 000.00 NEMA S&EIR application combined with NEMWA S&EIR application R 15 000.00 X NEMA BAR application combined with NEMWA BAR application R 3 000.00 NEMA S&EIR application combined with NEMWA BAR application R 11 000.00 Proof of payment is attached as Appendix 7. 1. CONSULTATION BASIC ASSESSMENT AND/OR SCOPING REPORT The Draft Scoping Report (DSR) is available and will be submitted to the Mpumalanga DMR Office on 18 March 2021 (hand delivery). The DSR will be made available for comment to all IAPs and commenting Authorities, for a period of 30-days. 2. DETAILS OF THE APPLICANT Project applicant: Nhlabathi Minerals (Pty) Ltd Registration no (if any): 2012/071272/07 Trading name (if any): N/A Responsible Person, (e.g. Prince Fikile Holomisa Director, CEO, etc).: Contact person: Prince Fikile Holomisa Physical address: Consol House, Osborn Road, Wadeville, Johannesburg Postal address: PO Box 157, Delmas Postal code: 2210 Cell: 083 298 9656 Telephone: 013 665 7900 Fax: 013 665 7910 E-mail: [email protected] 3. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PRACTITIONER (EAP) INFORMATION EAP: Marietjie Eksteen Professional Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner at EAPASA – Number affiliation/registration: 2020/1800 Registered Pr.Sci.Nat. at the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions – Registration No. 400090/02 Contact person (if different from EAP): Company: Jacana Environmentals cc Physical address: 7 Landdros Mare Street, Polokwane Postal address: PO Box 31675, Superbia Postal code: 0759 Cell: 082 809 4749 Telephone: 015 291 4015 Fax: 015 291 5035 086 668 4015 E-mail: [email protected] 3 If an EAP has not been appointed please ensure that an independent EAP is appointed as stipulated by the NEMA Regulations, prior to the commencement of the process. The declaration of independence and the Curriculum Vitae (indicating the experience with environmental impact assessment and relevant application processes) of the EAP must also be attached as Appendix 1. 4. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Farm Name: • 16 Modder East Agricultural Holdings on the farm Olifantsfontein 196 IR. • Portion 71 of the farm Rietkol 237 IR • A portion of Remaining Extent (RE) of portion 31 of the farm Rietkol 237 IR Refer to Appendix 2 for the full list of farm portions. Application area (Ha) 221 ha Magisterial district: Victor Khanye Local Municipality within the Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga Province. Distance and direction from Approximately 6 km west of Delmas. nearest town 21-digit Surveyor General Refer to Appendix 2. Code for each farm portion Locality map Attach a locality map at a scale not smaller than 1:250 000. Refer to Appendix 2. Description of the overall Consol Glass (Pty) Limited (Consol) was the holder of a prospecting right over activity. portions of Olifantsfontein 196 IR and Rietkol 237 IR. Consol commenced with an internal restructuring process of its mining interests in terms of the Mineral (Indicate Mining Right, Mining and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), 2002 (Act 28 of 2002) Permit, Prospecting right, Bulk in 2013. The restructure included the establishment of Apex Silica Mining (Pty) Sampling, Production Right, Ltd (Apex Silica) and Nhlabathi Minerals (Pty) Ltd (Nhlabathi). Following the Exploration Right, Reconnaissance restructuring process, Consol gave consent to Nhlabathi to apply for a Mining permit, Technical co-operation Right over the area to which it held the prospecting right, for the Rietkol Mining permit, Additional listed activity) Operation (referred to as the Rietkol Project). Nhlabathi applied for a Mining Right to mine silica in February 2018 and commenced with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process as contemplated in the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) and Government Notice (GN) No. R. 982-986 of 4 December 2014: NEMA: EIA Regulations, as amended, for the Rietkol Project. Several specialist studies were conducted within the Mining Right Application (MRA) area in support of the EIA process, and a comprehensive Public Participation process was initiated. The Final Scoping Report was submitted on 3 April 2018 and accepted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on 26 April 2018. However, the MRA was rejected by the DMRE Mpumalanga Mine Economics Directorate on the basis that the MRA formed part of another right granted in terms of the MPRDA. This decision resulted in a delay in the EIA process, ultimately causing the application for Environmental Authorisation to lapse. After research by DMRE officials and Nhlabathi employees, it was established that the prior right, on which basis the MRA was rejected, was the prospecting 4 right registered over the properties held by Consol. To remedy the situation, Consol submitted a letter to the DMRE on 8 June 2018 granting Nhlabathi the consent to proceed with the MRA. As a result, the DMRE withdrew the refusal letter by issuing an acceptance letter on 12 September 2018. Nhlabathi could, therefore, continue with the EIA process. However, on 31 August 2018, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe closed the Mpumalanga DMRE Office until further notice, with the result that DMRE accepted no new applications for Environmental Authorisation. The DMRE Office was only re-opened for business on 5 August 2019. Following the re-opening of the DMRE Office, Nhlabathi has re-initiated the MRA process and applied for a Mining Right over the same farm portions in early 2020. The MRA was accepted by the DMRE on 21 January 2021 and Nhlabathi has since re-initiated the EIA process with Jacana Environmentals cc (Jacana) appointed as the independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP). This is an application for a Mining Right to mine silica and associated minerals (clay, sand, etc.) in terms of section 22 of the MPRDA. Silica is planned to be mined by means of conventional opencast methods to a depth of between 30 and 50 meters below surface (mbs). The estimated life of mine (LOM) for the proposed Rietkol Project is 20 years. Further exploration drilling will be conducted during the operational phase, which may increase the LOM and mining depth if the resource proofs viable.