ENVIRONMENT IN FOCUS
of their site as a valuable asset and not just
a liability.
Upmarket residential estates
A quarry can be ideal for an upmarket
residential complex, and many have arisen
from the dustbowl of a quarry reinvented
as a lake for recreational water sports, with
units enjoying lakefront rights. “Some of
these have become very attractive sites with
streams, dams, walks, and golf courses. The
saving comes from identifying the use early
on in the lifecycle of the quarry, as far as
possible, and then preparing the land while
still in quarry-use for that future residential
use. The UK is more advanced than South
On 8 February 2018, one of the biggest
environmental compliance changes took
place legislatively when amendments
were introduced to formalise the
environmental assessment practitioner
(EAP) space. This requires anyone
who is practising as an EAP to be
registered with an organisation called the
Environmental Assessment Practitioners
Association of South Africa (EAPASA).
Jacqui Hex, Jones & Wagener technical
director and environmental specialist, is
a board member and the public relations
chairperson of EAPASA.
“The intention is that within two
years — by 8 February 2020 — any
person with the primary responsibility
in environmental assessment must
register to practice.” From regulation
24h: “No person other than a registered
environmental assessment practitioner,
may hold primary responsibility for the
planning, management, coordination
or review of environmental impact
assessments and associated EMPrs.”
Africa in this regard, with most of its gravel
pits having become water recreation areas
for sailing and more,” says Cluett. In such
cases, the quarry would wish to retain the
benches and faces for decorative or
landscaping purposes.
The difference is to see the quarry site as
a high-value asset as opposed to land of no
intrinsic value. This is a new concept, and
one certainly not foreseen by regulators of
the eighties and nineties, when virtually the
only concern was to fence off the area for
safety reasons.
But now we have the opportunity to
look more innovatively and identify —
while mining operations are still under
In the case of officials, this is the person
who scrutinises the report and drafts the
authorisation.
Hex explains the rationale: “The
registration process aims to improve the
quality of EIA reports that are received
from a wide spectrum of people and
improve the reputation of the industry.”
Professionals in South Africa are
required to register with various
affiliations and formal bodies in order to
practice in their respective fields. There
are specific requirements from SAICE to
be a Professional Engineer (Pr Eng) to
work in the civil engineering
environment; and those of SACNASP
(South African Council for Natural
Scientific Professions) where you are
required to be a professionally registered
scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat) to work in the
professional science environment. The
long-awaited gazetting of EAPASA as the
single registration authority for EAPs has
brought great excitement to the industry,
as well as some misconceptions.
way — what could be the potential end use.
This enables quarry owners to partner with
authorities and property developers with
an end use in mind, suggests Cluett. Most
quarry owners simply look at the end use as
rehabilitation to a wilderness area without
reckoning that with a bit more adventurous
thinking the site could be worth hundreds
of millions of rand.
Cluett’s model lists the following key
considerations in the future use selected:
• location;
• features of the geography and soil;
• resilience of the plant and its
productivity; and
• nutrient and water requirements. ■
“Suddenly we have EAPASA and if you
want to operate as an EAP, you are
required to register with EAPASA.
Whereas if you are an environmental
specialist responsible for specialist studies
such as geohydrological and ecological
assessments, you are required to register
with SACNASP,” explains Hex.
EAPASA is currently preparing for
its national roadshow planned to inform
practitioners of the requirements for
registration and to promote the benefits of
registration to both the industry and the
practitioners themselves.
There are two types of registrations:
a candidate EAP or a registered EAP.
To be a registered EAP requires a
minimum of three years’ experience in
this industry undertaking EIAs and the
submission of three EIA reports where
the applicant has had sole responsibility.
In addition, the applicant must
demonstrate that they have met the six
core competencies as outlined on
www.eapasa.co.za.
Countries like Zambia that produce a lot
of copper, have to import lime from other
countries to process the copper. In picture
is the processing plant at First Quantum’s
Kanshansi copper mine in the north-west
of Zambia.
QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 _ 33