Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 11 April 2011

By: Ingi Salgado

Coal of Africa chief executive John Wallington said the group’s controversial Vele colliery, located 6km from Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site, would have “the most monitored water use licence in the country”.

Vele’s water-use licence is valid for five years

He was responding to an announcement last week by a coalition of civil society groups that they would take a Department of Water Affairs decision to grant a water-use licence for Vele on appeal at the water tribunal. Coal of Africa intends to defend the appeal.

The NGOs are also appealing Vele’s mining right and environmental management plan with the Department of Mineral Resources. At the same time, Vele is undergoing a “rectification process” after Coal of Africa was served with a compliance notice in August by the Department of Environmental Affairs to stop construction of the colliery.

News of the water use licence approval immediately pushed Coal of Africa’s shares 14 percent higher on the JSE when the announcement was made to shareholders last Monday, but the counter had lost about half of these gains when it closed at R9.42 on Friday.

“The terms and conditions are going to be very specific for this mine,” Wallington said of the Vele water licence. “Once, and if, we get approval to run, we need to earn the right to stay there.”

He could not say what volumes Vele was licensed to use, although he indicated it was “significantly less” than a previous farm allocation on the land on which the mine was located. Continue reading Controversial colliery to use ‘significantly less’ water