04 Sep 2014

All mineral rights are vested in the state and everyone requires a licence to carry out any mining activities in the country.

Addressing the Tonota Sub-district Council meeting on September 2, principal engineer in the Department of Mines, Mr Barulaganye Ace said people were encouraged to conduct small scale mining operation for any mineral other than diamonds.

Mr Ace told councillors that if the area had been sufficiently prospected and no other person had exclusive rights over that area, one could apply for a prospecting waiver from the Department of Mines.

He however noted that if the area had not been prospected before, interested parties should apply for a prospecting licence from the mines department and then apply for a minerals permit after completing the prospecting programme, which should include a feasibility report.

He urged people to obtain surface rights from the relevant authorities. Commenting, Cllr Bathoen Maseko of Mandunyane said that there were no measures in place to see that people engaged in sand mining possesd licences.

He decried the fact that river banks were degraded by such activities, which degradation posed a danger to their animals.

For his part, Cllr Isaac Mabechu of Shashe Mooke raised a concern about illegal mining of sand, saying that it has negatively impacted on the environment, adding that rivers were growing reeds causing degradation of river beds.

Cllr Mabechu said for many years, sand and gravel had been used in the construction of roads and buildings and their demand has increased significantly.

He urged the Department of Mines to work hard in conjunction with resource agencies to ensure that sand mining was conducted in a responsible manner.

Mr Ace informed councillors that since 1999 they had been battling the illegal mining of sand in rivers and action has been taken against culprits. ENDS