Modern Mining June 2016

June 2016

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MODERN MINING

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feature

CSR/GREEN MINING

hanges in legislation have seen

the regulations surrounding the

Environmental Act, the Water Act

and the Minerals and Petroleum

Resources Development Act com-

bined into a single system. While this is ad-

vantageous for mines and quarries, the distinct

lack of understanding around the requirements

has made this quite daunting for individuals

within these operations.

Smit says that in the past mine and quarry

managers would have appointed either an in-

house employee or a consultant to handle the

requisite applications. “Today, even where

an in-house person prepares the applications

for authorisation, organisations will have to

employ the services of an independent consul-

tant to review these. The external review is to

ensure the integrity of the information being

supplied,” she explains.

Compliance

simple with Greenmined

Greenmined Environmen-

tal has the applications

knowledge and in-depth

understanding to conduct

intensive on-site audits.

There is a considerable move away from the continued use of in-house personnel to undertake appli-

cations for authorisations and other environmental requirements within the mining sector. Sonette

Smit, MD and senior environmental consultant at Greenmined Environmental, believes this shift can

be seen as both appropriate and cost-saving as – when it comes to applications for authorisations,

environmental audits and other related activities – all work done in-house at a mine or quarry will, in

any event, need to be reviewed by an independent environmental assessment practitioner.

Cutbacks, due to the pressure under

which the mining sector has been operating,

have also meant that, in many instances, the

infrastructure which supported an in-house

environmental department or officer has been

significantly reduced. In some cases the envi-

ronmental aspects of the operation have even

been incorporated into the function of the

safety department or officer.

“All this has created an increased demand

for a skilled independent environmental con-

sultancy with practitioners who can bring

complete impartiality to the table. This impar-

tiality, coupled with our broad spectrum of

applications knowledge and in-depth under-

standing of the duties as well as the rights of

the applicant or licence holder, ensures our

customer base of a level of proficiency not read-

ily available elsewhere,” Smit says.

This depth of knowledge and experience