Heritage Cases

Glencore Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd (Glencore) own and operate the Rietvlei Silica Mine. Rietvlei Mine is an existing mine situated 10 km North West of Rustenburg in the North West Province on portions of the farm Rietvly 271 JQ and Fogwill 324 JQ. The main aim of the operation is to produce silica ore for the ferrochrome furnaces of Xstrata, situated in the Rustenburg area. The silica ore fragments are obtained through blasting, crushing, washing, drying and screening. Current mining activities are progressing in an Easterly direction. Therefore, to make way for the continued progression of the Rietvlei Silica Mine, Glencore purchased Portion 103 of the Farm Shylock 256 that is situated adjacent to the current operations. It is proposed that this property will be used for stockpiling silica product. A drainage line is located on the north-eastern portion of the property and the current stockpile is situated within a 100 m of this non-perennial drainage line. Two alternative options for stockpiling at the new property will be investigated within the BAR. Option 1 entails stockpiling the product with an adequate buffer to the existing drainage line. This will slightly decrease the total area available for stockpiling. Option 2 entails diverting the drainage line to the east of the property which will alter the natural state of the drainage line. Which will allow for a larger area available for stockpiling. The project area that is the subject of the application is therefore an area along the western boundary of the mine