Modern Mining July 2023

SUSTAINABLE MINING

of natural resources while promoting justifiable eco nomic and social development. Given the individual’s rights to a clean and healthy environment, legislation has identified who is to bear responsibility for TSF related issues – i.e. firms, direc tors and those in management positions are to be held accountable should there be a failure in duty of care in the construction, operation and manage ment of TSFs. Liefferink explains that Section 34 of NEMA makes provision for firms (including companies and partnerships) and their directors (including board members, executive committees or other managing bodies or companies or members of close corpora tions or of partnerships) to be held liable, in their personal capacities, for environmental crimes. “This personal liability also applies to managers, agents or employees who have done or omitted to do an allocated task, while acting on behalf of their employer.” The Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) states that a general obligation rests on every employer to identify the relevant hazards and assess the related risks to which non-employees are exposed and to ensure that non-employees who are directly affected by the activities at the mine, are not exposed to any hazards to their health and safety. “To this end, the employer must establish a policy concerning the protection of non-employees who are directly affected by the activities at the mine.” In the case of TSFs at abandoned mines, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act contends that these become the responsibility of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). The DMRE has, in cooperation with the Council for Geoscience, developed a national database of abandoned mines, with some 6 000 mines having been identified (2008 statistics). These mines, which include gold mines, asbes tos mines, copper mines, bismuth and molybdenum mines, have been found to pose a high environmen tal risk. “Within the Witwatersrand gold fields there are no ownerless TSFs except for the Davidsonville Dump and the Tudor Dump of which the ownership is uncertain. There are, however, several dumps in care and maintenance,” explains Liefferink. South African miners play their part The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), which represents the world’s top 30 largest global mining companies, requires compulsory com pliance to GISTM requirements by its members. As such, ICMM members have committed to work towards designing, constructing, operating, monitoring and decommissioning tailings facilities that conform with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management.

(Photo: Mark Olalde)

that the courts referred to it as a benchmark in the absence of other legislation,” she notes. Interestingly, it was only in 2001 that the South African Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) required that the owner of a TSF have a mandatory Code of Practice for the facility. The Code of Practice documented areas of responsibility for any mine residue deposit and required that it be updated on a continual basis. Currently, there are a number of legal docu ments governing the construction and operation of TSFs in South Africa and compliance with the National Environmental Management Act, (NEMA), Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA), National Environmental Management Waste Act, National Water Act, and the Constitution of South Africa (1996), amongst others, is required. The South African Constitution states that every one has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through reasonable legisla tive and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; and secure ecological sustainable development and use

A close-up of Mintails’ TSF.

Dwellings are located close to TSFs.

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30  MODERN MINING  July 2023