Consultants employed by Australian company Mineral Sands Resources have acknowledged that the massive expansion of mining for mineral sands on 10 West Coast beaches will cause unavoidable environmental damage, but claim that the damage can be reduced to 'acceptable' levels.

This is one of the key findings of a draft environmental impact assessment (EIA), part of a new application by Australian mining company Mineral Sand Resources (MSR), published on 18 September for public comment, says GroundUp. The draft EIA has been released while MSR is still awaiting a decision on its separate application to condone earlier flouting of environmental regulations.

The company had already started work on the proposed expansion before approval had been granted by the Department of Mineral Resources. MSR last year applied to extend mining operations to another 10 beaches north of the existing mine. On 22 November, the department refused environmental authorisation, saying it was not satisfied with the way the impact assessment process had been conducted or with the company's compliance with legal requirements. A site inspection by the department's staff had revealed contraventions of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) by unlawfully starting work on listed activities.

The department also said the mining company and its consulting company, SRK, 'had not disclosed these Nema contraventions to the department, to other state organs or to the public'. The company then submitted a section 24G application in terms of Nema regulations for 'rectification of unlawful commencement of the listed activities', and re-started the EIA process for the mine's expansion.

Although the department has not yet ruled on the 24G application, a new draft EIA was released last week with a 30-day comment period.

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