With mop-up operations under way after the Jagersfontein tailings dam disaster in the Free State, the department of mineral resources & energy (DMRE) wants to revisit a 2007 court judgment that excludes it from monitoring tailings dams.
One person was killed, 100 more were injured and properties were damaged when the dam collapsed in the early hours of last Sunday.
Nathi Shabangu, spokesperson for minister Gwede Mantashe, said the court had ruled that the tailings dam belonged to De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by volume and the mine’ previous owner.
That meant the provisions of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), used to enforce the law over mining operations, were not applicable to tailings dams.
“The DMRE does not have any jurisdiction over the tailings dams,” Shabangu said. “Mantashe maintains the judge erred because it deprived tailings dams of the opportunity of having regular inspections by the department. Which is why when people complain about tailings dams, we cannot go there — if we go there we will be in contempt of court.
He said tailings dams ought to be regulated by the DMRE.
“We believe that it is the wrong decision to fragment the mining sector like that. We have spoken to the Minerals Council to find what can be done to revisit that court judgment,” Shabangu said.
One of the most common practices for mining companies avoiding their closure commitments is to pass the parcel — that is, selling the mines to less resourced companies that will relieve them of the responsibility and liability of dealing with the problems of closure
— Mariette Liefferink, CEO of CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment
Tailings dams store waste and water that are by-products of the mining process. Experts estimate there are roughly 400 tailings dams in SA, of which about half are still active.
Mantashe cut short his visit to South Sudan on Sunday and has visited Jagersfontein.
Jagersfontein Developments, the company that owns and manages the tailings dam, said it was premature to speculate on the cause of the collapse as investigations were under way. Immediate relief efforts were focused on assisting the townspeople directly affected by the incident, and mobilising cleanup operations.
The CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, Mariette Liefferink, said most of SA’s tailings storage facilities were low-cost, high-risk and required a high level of surveillance.
“One of the most common practices for mining companies avoiding their closure commitments is to pass the parcel — that is, selling the mines to less resourced companies that will relieve them of the responsibility and liability of dealing with the problems of closure.
“This approach allows for mines to end up in the hands of the weakest companies, which don’t have the resources, will or intention to manage closure responsibly. It appears that De Beers was the original owner of the mine, and passed its socio-ecological liabilities to less-resourced companies.”
De Beers said it had ceased operations at Jagersfontein in 1971 and sold the mine, along with its associated liabilities, in 2010.
Reinet Investments, chaired by billionaire Johann Rupert, sold the mine to Stargems Holdings in April this year.
“We stand ready to provide technical assistance and support to the government should it be requested by the Minerals Council,” De Beers said in a statement. Reinet Investments did not respond to questions.
Liefferink said tailings facilities often contain chemicals and that could have a big impact on communities and the environment.
“There has been significant pressure on mining companies to manage their tailings storage facilities and to communicate to communities the risk ... and what to do in the event of a failure; in other words, to develop emergency responses,” she added.
“It would appear that the mining company that is currently managing this tailings storage facility has not prepared communities and there has been failure in the operation of the tailings facility.”
In terms of SA’s environmental laws, the people responsible for the disaster include management, operators, directors, and the mining company, Liefferink said.
She said the DMRE and the department of water affairs should also shoulder blame because, as custodians of the country’s resources, they should have enforced laws.
But department of water & sanitation spokesperson Sputnik Ratau pointed to the 2007 court order which ruled that the government does not have jurisdiction over mine tailings.
Asked what measures the department would put in place to prevent a similar disaster, Ratau said it would be impossible to “ensure that it is not repeated”.
“What would be best is to ensure compliance with legislation and conditions of licensing. What will also be important is to raise the capacity to inspect.”
After the collapse of the Brumadinho tailings dam in Brazil in 2019, which claimed 270 lives, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) established an international standard for the safer management of tailings storage facilities by members.
ICMM CEO Rohitesh Dhawan said this week every tailings storage facility should comply with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) as soon as possible.
“From existing news reports we understand that the mine is currently owned by Jagersfontein Developments, which is a unit of Stargems Group. This is neither a member of ICMM or the Minerals Council of South Africa. We therefore cannot say for certain if the standard was being implemented at this site.”
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