Ezulwini Mining Company (Pty) Ltd

PROPOSED CESSATION OF PUMPING AND ASSOCIATED DECOMMISSIONING OF THE UNDERGROUND WORKINGS OF THE EZULWINI MINING COMPANY (PTY) LTD (EMC) (COOKE 4 SHAFT), GAUTENG

Supplementary Comments and Response Report

Ezulwini Mining Company (Pty) Ltd (“EMC”) appealed to the Minister of Environmental Affairs (“Appeal Authority”) against the Regional Manager: Mineral Regulation for the Gauteng Regional office of the Department of Mineral Resources’ (“DMR”) negative environmental authorisation decision dated 30 April 2018. EMC’s application to the DMR was for the decommissioning of the underground mine workings and associated cessation of pumping operations at Ezulwini mine, Gauteng Province under reference GP 30/5/1/2/2 (38) MR.  The Appeal Authority issued a decision on the appeal on 6 March 2019, received on 11 March 2019, which was duly made available for public review on our website at https://www.jaws-int.com/public-document/sibanye-gold-limited-sibanye-stillwater-proposed-closure-of-the-underground-workings-for-ezulwini-operations-ea-appeal-decision/ on 15 March 2019.

Based on the appeal decision, the DMR issued a letter to the EMC on 19 March 2019 directing EMC to:

• Submit four hard copies of the Final Basic Assessment (FBAR) and appendices to the DMR, for distribution to the commenting authorities,
• Conduct a further consultation process with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) the Principal Inspector of Mines (PIOM) and the Council for Geoscience to solicit comments, and
• Determine the financial provision that caters for any environmental liability, pollution or ecological degradation, the pumping and treatment of polluted or extraneous water, and the management and sustainable closure of the mine.

Further to the above, all registered Interested and Affected parties were granted another 30 calendar days, from 16 April 2019, (excluding public holidays) to comment on the FBAR and appendices, as well as the additional documents (https://www.jaws-int.com/public-document/sibanye-gold-limited-sibanye-stillwater-proposed-closure-of-the-underground-workings-for-ezulwini-operations-appeal-decision-additional-requirements/). At the request of an I&AP, the commenting period was extended to 27 May 2019.

Below follows the Supplementary Comments and Response Report (“Supplementary CRR”) which consists of comments received following the commenting period, including the minutes of the meetings held with the DWS, PIOM and CGS. This Supplementary CRR was duly submitted to the DMR on 6 September 2019.

Should you have any further comments or queries, please submit these directly to Mr Jimmy Sekgale, the case officer for the application at the DMR.

Please also forward any comments submitted to the DMR to the Jones & Wagener public participation office for record keeping purposes.

The following are the next steps in the process:

• The competent authority, DMR will review the FBAR;
• Based on the competent authority’s findings, they will decide whether to grant or refuse Environmental Authorisation for the proposed project and will then issue their decision providing reasons for their decision;
• Stakeholders will be notified of the competent authority’s decision within 12 days of receipt of receiving notification from the DMR;
• Stakeholders will be informed about the details of the appeal process. Any party may appeal the decision taken by the competent authority.

For more information, contact Anelle Lötter, Tel: (012) 667 4860, Email: anelle@jaws.co.za.