NOTICE OF THE APPROVAL OF THE SERITI COAL (PTY) LTD. KRIEL COLLIERY BLOCK F OPENCAST PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME AMENDMENT REPORT IN TERMS OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ACT (ACT NO 2002) AND THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT (ACT NO 108 OF 1998)
Background
Kriel Colliery is situated near Ga-Nala (formerly Kriel) in Mpumalanga. Seriti Coal (Pty) Ltd. is the holder of the Kriel Colliery Mining Right (no MP 30/5/1/2/2/236MR). Kriel Colliery has a dedicated coal supply agreement to Eskom’s Kriel Power Station. Kriel Colliery has been operational and supplying coal to the Eskom Kriel Power Station since 1975. The mine will continue to supply coal to Eskom until the end of the life of the power station, depending on the updating of the contract with Eskom. The approved Kriel Colliery Mining Right expires in 2038 and current mining areas included in the current Environmental Management Programme reports have a Life of Mine (LoM) until late 2033. Both opencast and underground operations are already underway at Kriel Colliery. Coal is mined from the No.4 coal seam within the Kriel Colliery Mining Right Boundary which covers an area of 18 135 hectares.
Application
In 2020, following a project Scoping Phase, an Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Environmental Management Programme Report were compiled for the Kriel Colliery Block F Opencast Project in terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act no 28 of 2002) and the Regulations thereunder as well as the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act no 108 of 1998) and the Regulations thereunder by Clean Stream Environmental Consultants (Pty) Ltd to provide for the proposed opencast and underground mining at the Block F area. The Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Environmental Management Programme Report Amendment report had also undergone the relevant public participation process and the final documents were submitted to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on the 3rd of December 2020.
Approval of the EMP Amendment
The abovementioned Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Environmental Management Programme Report , dated December 2020 was subsequently approved by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on the 11th of November 2021 by the Chief Director: Minerals and Petroleum Regulation: Northern Region. A copy of the approval document is available for download (see below). Should you wish to appeal any aspect of the decision, an appeal in terms of the appeal procedure provided for in Chapter 2 of the National Appeal Regulations (R.993 of 2014) must be submitted to the Minister of Environmental Affairs within 20 days of the date of this notification thus by 15 December 2021, and copied to the holder of the Mining Right and the DMRE. Details regarding the appeals process can be found in the approval document and in the National Appeal Regulations (R.993 of 2014) (contact details will be provided on written request and are included on the approval document available below.