JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Illegal mining in South Africa was getting out of control with about 6 000 people estimated to be involved in the practice of illegal underground mining and another 8 000 in illegal surface mining, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Friday.

She pointed out that it was estimated that, in 2011, illegal mining subtracted about R6-billion from the country’s fiscus, adding that as the practice grew this figure would also grow and, therefore, it was something that had to be dealt with.

Shabangu on Friday met with local stakeholders, aiming  to establish a local Ekurhuleni illegal mining forum, including unions, mining industry players, the Metro Police, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Home Affairs.

After the meeting, she told media that while there was a Gauteng provincial forum on illegal mining, it was “not really moving in a way that helps us to take this process [forward] and deal with the matter decisively” and, therefore, the decision to set up the Ekurhuleni forum was made.

The Minister stated that the forum would, among other issues, consider the process of arrests of illegal miners.

“One of the complaints [we received] has been that even when the police do arrest [illegal miners], nothing happens,” Shabangu said.

The forum would also look at the various areas where illegal miners had reopened shafts that had been closed, in an attempt to ensure that rehabilitation was done in a more sustainable way in future.

“The Department of Mineral Resources, will work with the Council for Geoscience to look at better methods of shutting down areas which are no longer in use,” Shabangu said.

Further, the proliferation of small refineries also had to be studied, she noted, explaining that while larger refineries had sufficient regulations in place to ensure that illegal gold was not processed, smaller refineries might not be preventing this.

OPERATIONAL MINES
Meanwhile, gold miner Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman told Mining Weekly Online on Thursday that it was not only closed mines that were being targeted, with operational mines also experienced problems.

Froneman said illegal mining at operational mines was at a level where he did not think it would be inappropriate to bring in the South African National Defence Force.

“It’s way out of control,” he said, recounting incidents of 150-plus illegal miners attacking plants, and stating that Sibanye was having to spend R300-million on security, made up of former high-ranking Hawks.

The SAPS was unable to help because of its lack of capacity to go underground, Froneman said.
He added that it was not only the unemployed that were mining illegally but also Sibanye's own employees, who were developing the practice of sneaking back into the mine during their leave and mining for their own account.

The company had a “very significant” illegal mining problem at its Kloof Four shaft on the West Rand, where blasting wires were cut and ore boxes dropped, which created major disruption.

Froneman said large criminal syndicates were driving the illegal practice.

"Illegal mining is a huge issue and I don’t think that the general public is aware of how big this issue is," he said.

Shabangu told Mining Weekly Online that she believed operational mines were being accessed by illegal miners through interconnecting tunnels leading from closed-down mines.

“Some of the tunnels of shut-down mines led to operational mines and illegal miners then use these tunnels to get into the tunnels of operational mines, and that is how mines that are still operational [are affected],” she said.