Mining Resources Minister Susan Shabangu
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) will appoint an independent team of technical experts to probe claims that the blasting activities of ASX-listed Mintails have damaged houses and roads and are jeopardising the health of residents of Kagiso, near the mine in Gauteng.
Over the weekend, angry Kagiso residents embarked on reportedly violent protests against the mining company’s activities, while the Mogale City local municipality pursued an interdict against Mintails to suspend operations on the West Rand of the Witwatersrand basin.
The municipality, which had called on the DMR to intervene, had since halted the court action to allow the investigation to run its course.
“The concerns we raised with the Minister of Mineral Resources include dust fallout, noise [and] structural damage to houses [besides others], which came as result of these blasting activities,” Mogale City spokesperson Nkosana Zali said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mogale City claimed that the blasting activities had impacted the informal settlements of Makhulugama and Tudor Shaft/Soul City and the suburbs of Boltonia and Kagiso.
Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu had met with Mogale City Executive Mayor Koketso Seerane and other members of the Council, and planned to meet with Mintails management to assess the situation and the validity of the accusations.
The meeting would also endeavour to establish immediate measures to deal with issues raised while awaiting the findings of the independent assessment.
The independent technical experts would, besides others, ascertain whether the structural integrity of houses had been undermined by the blasting activities.
The DMR-initiated investigations would be completed by the end of January.