African Mining February 2022 | Page 23

ENVIRONMENT •

which could pose a risk . Standard operating procedures are in place to deal with any hydrocarbon spills ; refuelling activities inpit are also minimised . We monitor for hydrocarbons , and would be able to immediately pick up any issues through the water monitoring network .

Elandsfontein is a very ‘ clean ’ phosphate deposit , without any of the possible heavy metals or minerals such as base metal sulphides often associated with acid mine drainage . Also , there are no radioactive elements present in this deposit .

Can you expand on Kropz ’ s concurrent rehabilitation methodology ? Ongoing rehabilitation is one of the mitigating actions to the Kropz mining activity . We are extremely passionate about the strides we have made in this area . Drone technology has been used to do chlorophyll mapping of the vegetation in the area before mining , to ensure we replace certain plant species and the vegetation associated with little outcrops of calcrete , for example . This allows us to then replace like-for-like vegetation when we start rehabilitation activities in that area . Once again , this is a first .

We have started with rehabilitation in certain areas and have proved that it can be done successfully . In our main mining area , we need to mine for a period of 22 months before we begin with this sort of backfilling and concurrent rehabilitation . So , we have an initial stockpile that we need to put the material on , but we have already started rehabilitation on the sides of the stockpile .

The lessons learned while managing the concurrent rehabilitation have been invaluable . Kropz has been working with Deon van Eerden , a specialist in fynbos rehabilitation at Vula Environmental Services , since 2014 .

What would you sum up as the lessons learned ? Challenges like the South Easter , which makes Langebaan the kite surfing capital of the world , have required the use of wind

nets to protect seedlings planted during rehabilitation . Having planted pioneer plants , alien species ( weeds ) must be managed by teams permanently on site . ‘ Search and rescue ’ activities must take place before topsoil is removed in the mining phase , which involves the removal of sensitive bulbs and other plant species , which are then taken to a number of offsite nurseries . This is to avoid putting all rescued plants in one area ; fire always poses a risk here .

There is a very definite wet and dry season on the West Coast , so one can only move topsoil in certain months of the year . So , again , Deon has been involved right down to the level of mine planning , when we strip topsoil off future mining areas , with preservation of that topsoil in mind . I think one of the lessons we ' ve learned is that you need to treat topsoil as a living organism , because it can ‘ die ’. And once it ' s dead , effectively it becomes very difficult to rehabilitate .

On the execution of the plant modifications , Kropz is very close to budget and on schedule , despite the impact of Covid-19 . Our water management system is proof that where there ’ s a will to do things right , there ’ s a way . If a material is not grown , it ’ s mined , and moving forward , one must learn to mine sustainably , and there is going to be a cost associated with it . It ' s the future of mining , really .

If the PwC ’ s 18 ^th Annual Review of the Top 40 Mining companies released on the 28 ^th of June 2021 is anything to go by , Lawrence is spot on , as mining companies with high ESG ratings provided 10 % higher shareholder returns during the pandemic . •

Drone technology has been used to do chlorophyll mapping of the vegetation in the area before mining ”

Image showing chlorophyll mapping by drone of rehabilitated topsoil stockpile ( violet ) and natural , undisturbed vegetation ( orange / yellow ). Like a heat map , red and violet contain higher levels of chlorophyll than orange and yellow .