Verelorenvlei threatened by tungsten mine in the Piketberg

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tok-tokkie

Race Dog
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The valley above Verlorenvlei will be turned into an opencast tungsten mine if the developer gets his way.  The owner of the farm that the mine will be on is opposing it.  I have copied an email here explaining the situation and the English & Afrikaans fuller explanations are the next posts in this thread.

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The attached Word document explains that the mine will be on the Krom Antonies river.  This is the river that starts in the Piketberg itself & flows northwards to join the Verlorenvlei river just where the Kapteinskloof road joins the R366 (Piketberg to Elands bay road).  The farm is marked on the 1:250 000 #3218 Clanwilliam map as #76 Namaquasfontein.


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This is the Kapteinskloof road with (I believe) the Krom Antonies river at the bottom of the slope.  That is the Piketberg ahead but the bit directly behind the town is off the picture on the left.  It is the best picture of the area that I happen to have.



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Verlorenvlei.  The mine will be upstream from here but it will cut off the water supply and severely pollute what water does come through to the vlei.



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This is near Het Kruis (which is mentioned in the report) but is not the Krom Antonies river, it is the Langvleirivier – Piketberg mountain is further to the right (south).



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The report states that the mine will be twice as big as Phalaborwa.  This is Phalaborwa from Google Earth.

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Two aerial photos of Phalaborwa.

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In the report you will see that they ‘ claim they will have to dam the Berg, Olifants and Krom Antonies rivers for the mine.- with resultant cessation of irrigation farming in entire districts.’  Obviously this mine, if it goes ahead, will have serious (catastrophic) implications for the environment in the area.  Equally, it will generate jobs and economic benefits for the area.
Verlorenvlei will be a thing of the past and the Piketberg Sandveldt and much of the West Coast (Sandveldt) will be forever changed.


We, as users of the area, can register as interested and affected parties opposed to the mine.  For the objections to be effective they need to be based on legitimate legal and procedural points.  Saying that we are not happy about the impact on the view or scenic beauty will have little or no effect.  It would be best to consult the lawyers working on the case as to how best to go about any objections – the more objectors the better for them so they should be amenable to an approach from organised (as against many individual) bike riders.

I don’t want to organise the objections to this mine.  I bring this matter to your attention.  What happens next is up to you. 

Be aware that what happens here will set a precedent for the country so it has implications for WDs throughout the country.



 
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