‘Small victory’ in fight against uranium mine
Assessment delay ‘shows concerns being heard’
ABERDEEN farmers are beaming with delight after an extension was granted by the Department of Mineral Resources to the assessment team evaluating the proposed uranium mining in the area.
Farmer Chris Hayward, who is spearheading opposition to the project, said farmers were convinced that the three-month extension until the end of August granted by the department after an application by Ferret Mining & Environmental Services showed their concerns were being heard.
“This shows up very positively in terms of the public input and the levels of concern raised about the toxic nature of uranium mining,” he said.
Besides the concerns raised about uranium dust poisoning people, stock and products and the pollution of ground and surface water, the tiny Nananthus plant has taken centre stage.
The plant is still being examined by the Schonland Herbarium in Grahamstown, but experts have said that the indications are that it is new to science.
Farmer Phillip McNaughton and his wife Joan discovered the Nananthus in July last year on their farm Kariegesfontein just outside the 35 000ha Kareepoort bloc targeted by miner Tasman South Africa, and it was subsequently found on Hayward’s farm within the bloc.
McNaughton, who is hoping their discovery could flag the ecological diversity of the area and the huge costs that could be incurred if the uranium mining goes ahead, said yesterday the delayed submission deadline was “good news indeed”.
In his submission on the Nanathus discovery to Ferret, McNaughton questioned why fieldwork by the assessor’s biodiversity team had not been done in the rainy season when Nama Karoo plants typically flower.
He queried why more than 100 indigenous plants known to occur in the Kareepoort area were not listed in their report.
He said these concerns should be weighed against the assessor’s own warning at the tail end of the report that “the impact of the development of radioactive dust may be significant due to its potential to influence a much larger area than the development footprint”.
The report concludes that “if this impact was to occur it would be expected to be of long duration and severe in magnitude, making it highly significant”.
Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute hydrologist and uranium mining expert Dr Stefan Cramer said the submission extension was “a small but significant victory for Karoo residents opposing uranium mining in their backyard”.
Erika van der Linde, of Ferret Mining & Environmental Services, said yesterday a substantial number of interested and affected parties (nearly 2 000) had submitted comments on the application.
Van der Linde confirmed that Ferret had requested an extension for the Kareepoort bloc to allow for further fieldwork on the Nananthus plant.
Their final draft environmental impact assessment (EIA) was now due to be submitted to the department at the end of August.
The department then had 106 days to consider the EIA.