Cape Town - An application by Ardagh Glass Packaging South Africa (AGPSA), formerly Consol Glass, to mine silica sand in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) has come under fire by the PHA Food and Farming Campaign, which believes the mine will threaten their food production and the wetlands.
Regenerative small-scale farmer and PHA Food and Farming Campaign chairperson Nazeer Sonday said the project had an expected lifespan of 25 years and would extract silica sand by removing the topsoil and digging 20m into the Cape Flats aquifer.
The PHA Food and Farming Campaign was opposing the application to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) because it believed the mine would have a detrimental effect on the health of the farming communities, the aquifer and the soil.
“The Consol mine will destroy 50 hectares, and may mine up to a further 250ha. Part of the land includes four wetlands that recharge the aquifer in winter months, and which is then farmed in summer. The land will be lost to food production forever,” Sonday said.
Ardagh Glass Packaging Holdings Africa chief executive Paul Curnow said the project was a new mine to be called Keysource Minerals, which involved simple surface extraction of loose sand by front end loader and eventually dredging.
“In its final stages, the investment will exceed R100 million,” Curnow said.
It would provide about 50 full-time and 30 part-time jobs, as well as training and upskilling of employees and the use of local service providers and suppliers, mostly small businesses, he said.
The proposed activity entails groundwater abstraction for the Cape Flats Aquifer for washing and processing silica sand and dust suppression, discharging of process water (dredging and process water) through the pollution control dams (PCDs) and into retention ponds, storage of process water within the PCDs, dredging of groundwater and silica sand, and impact to natural but transformed wetlands on site.
Curnow said the existing silica mine in Athlone has been operational for over 60 years, providing economic benefit and employment to local communities, but was now running low on reserves and this project will replace this source in time.
“The mining rights are only for 50 hectares of that land, of which Keysource is focused on around 30 hectares, which is less than 1% of the broader PHA region and which will be sufficient for the company’s needs for many decades,” Curnow said.
Curnow said the new operation exists in the same area and operates above the same aquifer as the existing operation.
He said specialist studies on the existing site show that mining has not harmed the aquifer, which echoes the findings of the studies conducted on the new site where no damage to the aquifer is foreseen.
Sonday said: “In a time of climate change, local food production like that happening in the Philippi Horticultural Area is critically important to insulate the city from food price shocks, climate shocks, pandemics and other pressure put on long-haul food supply chain. We are protecting our food supply and water supply.”
“Keysource is sensitive to the value of the PHA and, in discussion with various stakeholders, has identified a location with low agricultural value.
“As such, the company’s operations won’t have any material impact on food supply and may operate as a buffer to urban development, which was the intent of the spatial development plan,” Curnow said.
