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| Together, the farmers? cooperative and the
Nyakabale project produce 65% of the fresh vegetables used on mine. |
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| The useful Moringa oliefera or the Magic
Tree is the primary crop at the Nyakabale project at Geita. |
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| Independent consultants from the Institute
for Natural Resources (South Africa) and ASERNI (Mali) facilitate a
public meeting with representatives from the Malian government, mine
and neighbouring villages. |
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| Niamboulama and Kourketo elders and
villagers participating in a meeting to discuss the impacts of the
proposed Yatela mine and the resettlement of Niamboulama. |
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| Mr Macalou, a locally renowned well digger
was contracted by Yatela mine to excarate a new well near the
relocated Niamboulama village site, to replace one which would be
lost in the development of the mine pit. |
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| Niamboulama villagers and mine personnel
involved in the identification of ancestral burial grounds prior to
the relocation of Niamboulama. |
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Case studies
East and West Africa |
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| 7.3 Nyakabale agriculture
project |
The Nyakabale agricultural project is a unique
partnership between the community, the Geita Gold Mine and All
Terrain Services (ATS) ? the catering contractor to the mine, which
was established in June 2001.
Says Carolyn Brayshaw, the community development coordinator for the
mine, ?The object of the project was to establish an initiative that
was beneficial to the local surrounding communities, displaced by
the mine concession area, to improve relations and give these
communities an economically viable source of income.
?A cash crop was identified that would be economically,
environmentally and socially sustainable. After extensive research
it was decided that the Moringa oliefera or the Magic Tree would be
a suitable crop. Cultivation of this tree allows for inter-cropping
with vegetables which are supplied to the nearby mining village.?
The commercial value of the trees lies in their seeds, from which
oil is extracted. This oil is then purchased by a company based in
Dar es Salaam. There are many local uses for the tree as the leaves
are high in vitamins and are a good food supplement for people not
receiving all their nutritional requirements. This crop also has
potential as a natural water flocculent which has not yet been
exploited.
?It soon became clear, however, that the size of land allocated was
unable to produce sufficient quantities to meet the vegetable
requirements of the mine. The focus of the project then shifted in a
new direction ? local farmers were encouraged to grow vegetables and
from this a co-operative developed.?
The farmers? co-operative has 60 members and was officially
registered in April 2003. The Nyakabale community project, together
with the farmers? co-operative, is now producing approximately 65%
of all ATS?s fruit and vegetable needs.
?The funds made by the co-operative farmers can be seen as a direct
benefit as the money is injected into the community without being
taken up by administrative and organisational costs. The forward
thinking focal point of the project is now to offer extension
services and to assist in marketing, financial management and all
other aspects of operating a sustainable business.?
As with many community-based projects, the single focus has now
broadened to incorporate many issues pertinent to the community.
These spin-off initiatives include the introduction of environmental
education at the local primary school, an indigenous tree nursery as
there is potential to use these in the environmental rehabilitation
programme, poultry farming and women?s workshops.
Future plans for the project include encouraging the development of
the project so that it provides all of the mine?s fruit and
vegetable needs, encouraging local farmers to plant Moringa oliefera
as a viable cash crop, poultry farming and research into the
potential of keeping other forms of livestock.
The mine is not limiting itself to the Nyakabale Project. Other
initiatives that are earmarked for community development projects
include the Nyamkumbu brickmaking facility, a fruit juice plant, a
windmill for communal water and a briquetting machine. |
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| 7.4 Planning for reclamation and revegetation
at Yatela |
Planning for mine closure begins well in advance
and, in fact, in most cases is even taken into consideration at the
feasibility stage of a project. At Yatela mine in Mali,
rehabilitation of the area affected by mining takes place as mining
proceeds.
Following a flora transect study by the Malian Department of
Forestry in 2000, the mine and the Department agreed that the areas
disturbed by mining would be reforested at a rate of 215 trees per
hectare. To ensure the availability of saplings for future
forestation, a nursery was established on site. Also in anticipation
of rehabilitation, top soil stripped in strict accordance with the
mine?s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is stockpiled as close
to the target rehabilitation areas as possible.
A seed bank has been established ? local communities are employed
during the dry season to harvest wild grass seeds, which are then
packed and stored for use at a later date. This is an annual project
during the life of the mine and ? in 2002 ? about 3,000kg of seeds
were collected. In addition to this very necessary input into the
environmental rehabilitation process, this function also provides
much needed jobs in the area.
The rehabilitation process undertaken at Yatela is as follows: |
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First the slopes are graded to a gradient
of 1:3; |
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Topsoil is then placed over the surface in
a layer of about 10cm; |
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Interlocking erosion prevention trenches
are then cut into the topsoil; |
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Finally, harvested grass and seed is mixed
into the soil. |
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Just over 18 hectares of disturbed land were
rehabilitated in 2003 and some 16 hectares will be rehabilitated in
2004.
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Charles Loots, Environmentalist at Yatela, Mali. |
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| 7.5 Actively engaging with communities
in West Africa
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Sadiola
Hill Gold Mine in western Mali, which is a partnership between
AngloGold, Iamgold, the Malian government and the IFC, commenced
construction in 1995 and poured its first gold in 1997. Construction
of the nearby Yatela mine followed in 2000, with production of its
first gold in May 2001. The development of the mines has
necessitated the relocation of three villages, Sadiola and
Farabakouta, adjacent to Sadiola and the village of Niamboulama,
adjacent to Yatela.
The relocation of these villages was AngloGold?s first experience of
resettlement and involved a steep learning curve. Expertise in the
form of the Institute for Natural Resources (University of Natal,
South Africa) and a Malian consultancy called ASERNI (Association
d?Etude et de Mise en Valeur des Resources Naturelles et des
Institutions) was contracted to assist with the village relocation
exercise. Within the mine?s environmental department, staffed
predominantly by Malians, a dedicated community liaison function was
established to facilitate the four-year programme of extensive
community consultation required to carry out this process.
Since the successful relocation of the three villages, community
liaison personnel have focused primarily on routine liaison,
post-relocation monitoring of the surrounding communities and the
establishment of a range of community development initiatives.
While the village relocations have been successful, people in the
villages surrounding the mines have still experienced the direct and
indirect effects of mining, particularly in a social context, which
were predicted. As large-scale mining was new to the area, the
communities? full understanding of the environmental and social
issues associated with the Sadiola and Yatela operations took time
to develop. In order to facilitate their ability to engage rather
than merely react to issues of concern, in recent years local
stakeholders have begun to push for improved communication and
greater disclosure of information. Local communities have
established links that extend well beyond the Sadiola region,
notably through expatriate family members from the region living in
France. In their efforts to interpret information and assist people
back at home, these Malian expatriates have approached non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as GRDR Sante and Friends of
the Earth (FoE).
The development of the Sadiola and Yatela mines has brought about
substantial physical, economic and social change to the region, and,
in seeking to adjust to these changes, the communities consider the
mines responsible for the various positive and negative impacts on
their lives and livelihoods. In the absence of historical
comparisons and a perceived lack of transparency on the part of the
mines, these communities came to rely on external stakeholders such
as GRDR Sante and FoE to provide a better understanding of some of
the technical issues associated with mine impacts.
For its part, the mine felt increasingly that its ability to
communicate with stakeholders through existing communications
structures was being limited by poor understanding of technical
issues on the part of both the local communities and their NGO
advisors.
With the support of the other shareholders in Sadiola, AngloGold
proposed holding a large-scale stakeholder workshop at which the
concerns and needs of all sides could be discussed. The workshop
took place at Sadiola in June 2003 and was attended by about 120
delegates from local communities, local, regional and national
government, shareholders (AngloGold, the IFC), NGOs and national and
international media. Proceedings took place in French, Bambara and
Malinke, with limited discussion in English. The use of local
languages in the discussion was particularly significant as language
has consistently been identified as one of the barriers to effective
communication between the stakeholders and the mine management.
Beyond its initial objective of creating a framework for ongoing
consultation and information exchange between the various
stakeholder groups, the workshop sought to use the inputs of all
sides to map a way forward. All parties present agreed that the
objective of the workshop was the development and implementation of
an integrated development plan for the Sadiola region in partnership
with the stakeholder groups. In order to cover the broad range of
issues in the time available, the workshop split into four working
groups to consider:
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Human resources/social development |
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Preservation of natural resources/rural economy |
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Infrastructure and equipment |
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Administrative and legal matters |
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At the end of the proceedings, the workshop drew
up a special resolution. This resolution acknowledged that for local
development efforts to be more accepted and to move towards a more
sustainable outcome, all stakeholders would have to play their part.
Clearly this entails that all parties be empowered to do so. In the
workshop resolution, stakeholders called on:
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the Malian government to take urgent action
to integrate large-scale mining projects with local and regional
development plans; and |
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the mining company to further involve
itself in the implementation of community development projects,
and establish an effective regular communication with all the
stakeholders involved, notably the local communities. |
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It was also noted that instead of establishing
permanent dependency relationships with the mine, the communities
should seize the opportunities that large-scale mining offers for
the remainder of the mine-life to establish development initiatives
that will be sustainable post closure.
The mine formally undertook to critically review the range of
proposals generated by the working groups within the context of
economic and technical opportunities and constraints. These
initiatives will be incorporated into an Integrated Development
Action Plan that will be formulated for the broader Sadiola region,
which is being jointly funded by AngloGold and the Luxembourg
Development Fund.
As a result of this experience, AngloGold has recognised that the
process of community engagement, in which all stakeholders must
participate, must continue and evolve throughout the life of an
operation. The mine has therefore committed to revisiting the
session annually and to use the input received to improve its
ability to eventually exit the region in a manner that does not
undermine the communities? ability to sustain their livelihoods.
Post-relocation monitoring and community development initiatives
will continue throughout the life of the mine. |
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| 7.6 Immediate action following environmental
incident at Sadiola |
Following a spate of wildlife fatalities at the
Sadiola gold mine around April 2003, AngloGold?s East and West
Africa region took action to investigate the incident, to remedy the
problems identified and to implement measures to prevent a
reoccurrence in the future.
The problem first came to the attention of mine management when
several dead birds were discovered in the area of the silt trap and
return water dam, next to the Sadiola tailings storage facility (TSF).
As this qualified as a serious incident, a process of audit,
communication, reaction and proactive actions followed immediately.
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Additional water quality samples were
collected and analysed for cyanide and metals. |
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The perimeters of the silt trap and return
water dam were patrolled. The location and condition of the dead
wildlife were recorded. |
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A number of the dead birds were frozen and
sent for autopsy. |
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A highly qualified toxicologist visited the
site and conducted an investigation. |
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An audit team from AngloGold comprising
chemical, metallurgical and environmental experts visited the
mine to assess the action already taken and to assist in
devising an action plan. |
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Relevant regional and national government
departments were informed of the incident, along with local
community representatives. |
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During the latter part of 2002, rigorous
operating parameters were established to safely and responsibly
treat sulphide material at Sadiola. The aim was to maximise the
cyanide addition while at the same time maintaining the WAD-CN
(weak-acid dissociable cyanide) levels between 20 mg/l and 30 mg/l,
which is well below the international standard of 50 mg/l.
A review of the daily water quality monitoring showed that the
cyanide concentrations in the slimes dam, silt trap and return water
dam, were well below the level considered to be safe for the
protection of wildlife (50 mg/lWAD cyanide).
However, further investigation indicated that there may have been a
case for toxicity related to the consumption of cyanide complexes
associated with, or present as, solids. Copper, having been
introduced in the form of copper sulphate as a cyanide destruction
agent, could have contributed to high levels of copper cyanide
complex salts and, or, high levels of particulate bound cyanide
species. This in turn may have resulted in the deaths of the animals
consuming disturbed material from the sediment that had accumulated
in the silt trap and the return water dam. It was clear that further
work was required to assess the potential for such toxicity.
A number of steps have been taken to prevent a re-occurrence:
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Excess water is currently
being drained in order to reduce the area exposed to wildlife: |
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A detoxification plant has
been installed in the residue section of the plant to dose
residue with peroxide should more than 50 ppm WAD-CN be present
in tailings slurry as it leaves the plant. |
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A cyanide destruction
process using sodium metabisulphate, and minimising the use of
copper sulphate, has been introduced as the primary means of
cyanide detoxification. Copper addition has been limited to
below 20 ppm in residue solution in the interim. |
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The silt is being cleaned
up and deposited on the TSF. |
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Patrolling of the
perimeter of the TSF has been improved to more quickly identify
any problems in the future. |
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The water monitoring
programme has been reviewed in terms of the location of
monitoring points and species analysed. |
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Further cyanide speciation
work has been initiated with respect to particulate bound or
precipitated cyanide species. |
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A back-up detoxification
system has been installed in the penstock in the slimes dam to
assist in the unlikely circumstance that residue values exceed
50 ppm WAD-CN in the decant pond. |
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Cyanide monitoring and
testing equipment has been replaced, the emergency response
system has been improved and the training of personnel has been
upgraded. |
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Research has been initiated with the
long-term objective of recovering the cyanide from the residue
stream, with limited detoxification as a secondary process. |
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| At the end of May 2003, separate meetings were
arranged with mine management, senior AngloGold executives, the
Directorate Nationale de Geologie et des Mines (DNGM) and the
Minister of Mines, to inform them of actions taken. The DNGM and
Minister of Mines subsequently sent audit teams to the mine to
review these actions and have indicated that they are pleased with
the outcome. Quarterly meetings will be held in future. |
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| Cyanide
use and detoxification at Sadiola |
From the mine?s
start-up in 1997 to late 2002, the Sadiola gold plant
processed oxide ores, which are found closer to the
surface. This processing entails the use of cyanide and
because of the nature of oxide ore, the concentrations
of cyanide used (and hence what is left in the tailings
or residue after processing) are relatively low. Since
cyanide is degraded (or broken down) by exposure to the
elements, the commonly used process of natural
degradation was adopted. As mining ventured deeper over
time, a transition occurred in the extraction and
processing of the deeper sulphide ores in that higher
concentrations of cyanide were used in the treatment
process.
Controls were put in place, including the installation
of a temporary cyanide detoxification system, so that,
despite the increase in the cyanide concentration
levels, the process levels of cyanide in the decant
pond would not exceed the World Bank Guideline of 50
mg/l. Daily samples are collected from the TSF feed, the
decant pond, the silt trap and the return water dam and
analysed for total cyanide, WAD cyanide and free cyanide
at a mine-based assay laboratory. |
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