Modern Mining June 2016

CSR/GREEN MINING

Compliance simple with Greenmined 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.

C 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.

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

Greenmined Environmen- tal has the applications knowledge and in-depth understanding to conduct intensive on-site audits.

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June 2016  MODERN MINING  45