GLENCORE KROONDAL MINE: TSF RE-DESIGN AND WRF EXPANSION, INCLUDING SAMANCOR MRA EXCHANGE, RUSTENBURG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY, NORTH WEST PROVINCE

Glencore Kroondal Mine is currently owned by Glencore Alloys, a subsidiary of Glencore Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The mine is situated 10 km east of Rustenburg on portions of the farm Kroondal 304JQ. Historically, mining at Kroondal has consisted of both opencast and underground mining. Currently, all opencast mining has ceased and these areas have been rehabilitated. Only underground mining remains. The mine is operating from various Environmental Management Programme (EMP) reports in addition to the original EMPR compiled in 2003, these include:

CHEMC Environmental CC, 2009. Xstrata Alloys’ Environmental Management Programme Reports Update.
Environmental and Energy Services. 2011. EMPR for the Kroondal PGM plant.
Environmental and Energy Services. 2014. Ventilation shaft EMP addendum Kroondal chrome mine.

The current infrastructure associated with the mine includes the following:

Transport, power and water supply networks;
Telephone lines;
An explosives magazine;
Beneficiation plant (crushing, screening circuit, HMS, spiral and stockpile sections);
Stockpile areas for product;
Tailings Storage Facility;
Waste Rock Facility;
Water management infrastructure including storm water management infrastructure, canals, a process dam (capacity 222 kilolitres), an Erickson dam (capacity 1089 kilolitres);
Silt trap (capacity 800 kilolitres) and the main catchment dam (capacity 20000 kilolitres);
Monitoring boreholes;
Water meters;
Buildings including main office buildings, workshops (engineering, store complex and yard), service department (office, change house and lamp room complex), a salvage yard;
Garages, toilets, security offices, a lapa, weigh bridge offices and a weighing bridge;
Fences;
A diesel storage area (adjacent to the workshop);
A contractor’s hostel;
A sewage plant;
Workers housing;
2 Inclines shafts and a number of ventilation shafts.

DMRE issued an environmental authorisation in support of the Platinum Group Minerals (PGM) project in 2017. The activities, approved in terms of the said EMPR which have not been constructed include the following:

Processing of old tailings and the underflow from the current chrome plant in order to recover Platinum Group Metals and other associated minerals from the tailings as well as the current mining operations.
Tailings Storage Facility (TSF)
Waste Rock Dump (WRD)
Lined storm water dam (Pollution Control Dam (PCD))

Glencore Mines now wish to change the scope of the 2017 authorisation as:

Changes in size and location of previously approved TSF Waste Rock Facility and PCD
Pipeline for transportation of water from the PCD
Construction of a Mine Residue Facility (MRF), also referred to in this report as a Co-disposal Facility (CDF)
ML process water tank and desilting facility
Adding a mining area obtained from Samancor held in respect of the following reference number NW30/5/1/2/2/260MR. This is an underground mining area and no surface infrastructure will be erected on this area.

Published: 25 August 2021
Review Period: 25 August 2021-27 September 2021

Contact Person: Ms Nsovo Mdungazi
Email: n.mdungazi@cesnet.co.za
Tel: 046 622 2364 | 087 549 1321

Draft Basic Assessment Report - BAR

Draft BAR

Appendices