Palaeontological Impact Assessment for the proposed gypsum mining operation on farm Kanakies 332 Calvinia District, Northern Cape Province Desktop Study For Cabanga Environmental 30 March 2018 Prof Marion Bamford Palaeobotanist P Bag 652, WITS 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa [email protected] Expertise of Specialist The Palaeontologist Consultant is: Prof Marion Bamford Qualifications: PhD (Wits Univ, 1990); FRSSAf, ASSAf Experience: 30 years research; 22 years PIA studies Declaration of Independence This report has been compiled by Professor Marion Bamford, of the University of the Witwatersrand, sub-contracted by Cabanga Environmental, Randburg, South Africa. The views expressed in this report are entirely those of the author and no other interest was displayed during the decision making process for the Project. Specialist: Prof Marion Bamford Signature: 1 Executive Summary Witkop Fluorspar (Pty) Ltd intends to develop a Gypsum mine on the farm Kanakies 332 and has submitted an application for a Mining Right (MR) in terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act No. 28 of 2002 (MPRDA). The project area is situated in the Northern Cape, on the border with the Western Cape, about 45km west- south-west of the town of Loeriesfontein and 40km north-north-west of the town of Nieuwoudtville. The possibly fossiliferous Ecca sediments are not in the mining area but occur to the north. Granites, gneisses, sands, alluvium and calcretes are not fossiliferous. There is a small chance that trace fossils and stromatolites could occur in the Knersvlakte Subgroup shales but these will not be mined. Based on the lack of any previously recorded fossils from the area, it is extremely unlikely that any fossils would be identified in the proposed site. Furthermore, the gypsum to be mined would have formed when a saline pan dried out, and this would have been long after the underground rocks were formed, and the gypsum would not contain fossils. No further palaeontological assessment is required. As far as the palaeontology is concerned the project may continue. 2 Table of Contents Expertise of Specialist...................................................................................................................... 1 Declaration of Independence ........................................................................................................... 1 1. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Methods and Terms of Reference ................................................................................................... 5 3i. Project location and geological context ....................................................................................... 7 3ii. Palaeontological context ............................................................................................................. 8 4. Impact assessment .......................................................................................................................... 9 5. Assumptions and uncertainties ...................................................................................................... 11 6. Recommendation ........................................................................................................................... 11 7. References ..................................................................................................................................... 13 3 1. Background Witkop Fluorspar (Pty) Ltd intends to develop a Gypsum mine on the farm Kanakies 332 and has submitted an application for a Mining Right (MR) in terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act No. 28 of 2002 (MPRDA). The project area is situated in the Northern Cape, on the border with the Western Cape, about 45km west-south-west of the town of Loeriesfontein and 40km north-north-west of the town of Nieuwoudtville. It falls within the Hantam Local Municipality of the Namaqwa District Municipality. The overall Mining Right Area (MRA) is 7456.6974 of which approximately 689 ha will be earmarked for mining, whilst a further 9 ha will be affected by surface infrastructure. The MRA is currently zoned for agricultural purposes and is utilised for grazing. The property is bisected by the Transnet Freight railway line that links Sishen Iron Ore to the Port of Saldanha. Existing infrastructure on site includes a small rail siding, power lines, sub-station, cellular (MTN) tower, farmsteads and associated infrastructures. This application relates to the surface mining of the industrial mineral, Gypsum. Gypsum is typically used in the agricultural and construction industries (plasterboard, Portland cement, plaster etc.). The deposit consists of two layers of gypsum i.e. a powder layer and nodular crystalline (clay) layer of gypsum. The deposit will be harvested by means of simple roll-over trench mining and the depth of trenching will vary between 1.4 and 2.5m. The first step involves removing the overburden layer of between 0.2 and 0.7m, followed by the selective removal of the powder layer of approximately 0.4 m and subsequently by removal of the crystal-containing clay layer of between 0.9 and 1.3m. Table 1: Specialist report requirements in terms of Appendix 6 of the EIA Regulations (2014) A specialist report prepared in terms of the Environmental Impact Regulations Relevant section in of 2014 must contain: report Details of the specialist who prepared the report Appendix A The expertise of that person to compile a specialist report including a curriculum Appendix A vitae A declaration that the person is independent in a form as may be specified by the Page 1 competent authority An indication of the scope of, and the purpose for which, the report was prepared Section 1 The date and season of the site investigation and the relevance of the season to the N/A outcome of the assessment A description of the methodology adopted in preparing the report or carrying out the Section 2 specialised process The specific identified sensitivity of the site related to the activity and its associated Section ii structures and infrastructure Error! Reference source 4 A specialist report prepared in terms of the Environmental Impact Regulations Relevant section in of 2014 must contain: report not found. An identification of any areas to be avoided, including buffers N/A A map superimposing the activity including the associated structures and infrastructure on the environmental sensitivities of the site including areas to be N/A avoided, including buffers; A description of any assumptions made and any uncertainties or gaps in Section 5 knowledge; A description of the findings and potential implications of such findings on the Section 4 impact of the proposed activity, including identified alternatives, on the environment Any mitigation measures for inclusion in the EMPr N/A Any conditions for inclusion in the environmental authorisation N/A Any monitoring requirements for inclusion in the EMPr or environmental N/A authorisation A reasoned opinion as to whether the proposed activity or portions thereof should N/A be authorised If the opinion is that the proposed activity or portions thereof should be authorised, any avoidance, management and mitigation measures that should be included in N/A the EMPr, and where applicable, the closure plan A description of any consultation process that was undertaken during the course of N/A carrying out the study A summary and copies if any comments that were received during any consultation N/A process Any other information requested by the competent authority. N/A 2. Methods and Terms of Reference The Terms of Reference (ToR) for this study were to undertake a PIA and provide feasible management measures to comply with the requirements of SAHRA. The methods employed to address the ToR included: 1. Consultation of geological maps, literature, palaeontological databases, published and unpublished records to determine the likelihood of fossils occurring in the affected areas. Sources included records housed at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand and SAHRA databases; 2. Where necessary, site visits by a qualified palaeontologist to locate any fossils and assess their importance (not applicable to this assessment); 3. Where appropriate, collection of unique or rare fossils with the necessary permits for storage and curation at an appropriate facility (not applicable to this assessment); and 5 4. Determination of fossils representivity or scientific importance to decide if the fossils can be destroyed or a representative sample collected (not applicable to this assessment). Figure 1a: Map from Cabanga of the proposed mining area at Kanakies 332, Northern Cape Province. Fig 1b (below) showing details of the farm border. 6 7 3. Geology and Palaeontology i. Project location and geological context Figure 2: Geological map of the area around Loeriesfontein, Nieuwoudtville and Kliprand.. The proposed site for the gypsum mine is indicated by the blue arrow. Abbreviations of the rock types are explained in Table 2. Map enlarged from the Geological Survey 1: 1 000 000 map 1984. Table 2: Explanation of symbols for the geological map and approximate ages (Barbolini et al., 2016; Gresse et al., 2006; Cornell et al., 2006; Erikssen et al., 2006. Johnson et al., 2006; Partridge et al., 2006). SG = Supergroup; Fm = Formation. Symbol Group/Formation Lithology Approximate Age Quaternary