THE KIMBERLEY Artisanal Mineworkers (KAMW) has welcomed Petra Diamonds’ sustainability reports, with the chairperson of the KAMW, Lucky Seekoei, stating that the mining giant’s announcement vindicates hundreds of illegal miners of wrongdoing on sites that had been assessed and declared fully rehabilitated.

This comes after Petra last week announced that while illegal mining activities continued to damage rehabilitated areas, certain sites had been fully restored to the conditions stipulated prior to the commencement of operations.

In response to an article published in the DFA last week, Seekoei said that the “scavenging” of diamonds that have been “wasted” by De Beers should not be used to justify the non-compliance of mining companies.

“The article in last Tuesday’s DFA vindicated the argument that it has always been the culture of De Beers to abandon kimberlite residues,” said Seekoei. “Therefore, is it a crime to find use for any type of abandoned substance? We, the KAMW, are of the firm belief that the Petra Diamonds sustainability report vindicates our case.”

Seekoei stated that, for the better part of two decades, the informal miners had reported the “wastage of mineral resources” to no avail, with sites being either rehabilitated or earmarked for development while there is still enough unprocessed kimberlite, containing enough rough diamonds to make it economically feasible for mining to continue.

“We can’t help, nor ignore, the so-called rehabilitated areas which contain the floor (residues) of kimberlite,” he said.

“We have reported incidents where houses, recreational facilities, cemeteries and farms were built on top of the minerals residues or floors.

“People were retrenched in the mining sector for absolutely no given reason but it was alleged that these retrenchments were due to a lack of production.”

The KAMW called on government to issue permits for the remaining diamonds to be excavated to ensure that no minerals go to waste.

“The greedy monopoly is channelling all minerals resources to Britain and America, costing our country dearly. They took the whole big cake and refused to share.

“They excluded blacks to participate in the mainstream economy and today we are even refused to scavenge for leftovers.”

Petra’s operations in Kimberley consist of Kimberley Ekapa Mining JV, which employs a total of
1 709 employees, as well as 451 contractors. The mine has a planned life of 18 years.

Its other Northern Cape mine is Finsch, where the total workforce is 1 158, while there are more than 2 000 contractors. The mine plan is 13 years.

Although not in the Northern Cape, the nearby Koffiefontein Mine employs 613 workers, and 248 contractors. The mine plan is eight years.

Source: http://www.dfa.co.za