BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

This report, prepared by Jock Currie of the University of Cape Town for WWF South Africa, examines the potential ecological impacts of full-scale marine phosphate mining in the Western Cape, South Africa. It focuses on the risks associated with high-volume dredging technologies, such as Trailing Suction Hopper-Dredges (TSHD), and their effects on benthic, demersal, and pelagic organisms, as well as the overlap between proposed mining areas and critical conservation and fishery zones.

• Bulk dredging of the sea floor is expected to cause the total destruction and removal of the benthic ecosystem within the mined areas. Recovery of these communities is slow, with areas at 200 m depth potentially taking roughly 20 years to reach a mature equilibrium, though the resulting community may be permanently altered and different from the pre-disturbed state.
• Mining operations using Trailing Suction Hopper-Dredges (TSHD) create benthic and surface plumes that alter water-column chemistry. These plumes can release inorganic nutrients, potentially causing point-source eutrophication, and can strip oxygen from bottom waters through the re-mineralisation of re-suspended organic material, potentially aggravating naturally-occurring hypoxia.
• There is a risk of re-suspending heavy metals from sediments, including cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). While some argue dilution makes contamination unlikely, the larger scale and persistence of phosphate mining compared to diamond mining may increase the threat of bio-magnification in fishery resources.
• Mining activities generate significant acoustic disturbance from surface vessels, dredging tools, and sonar systems. This noise pollution can cause mobile organisms and sound-sensitive species to avoid areas potentially on the order of several kilometres, and increased shipping traffic for sediment transfer creates persistent disturbance along transport routes.
• The prospecting licence areas for Green Flash Trading (GFT) overlap with 26 recognised benthic habitat types, including rocky or consolidated habitats that support fragile reef-building cold water corals. Many of these areas are currently unprotected and coincide with priority regions for offshore conservation and the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area.
• Proposed mining areas show a high degree of spatial coincidence with the South African offshore trawl footprint and other fishery sectors. Because mining can permanently alter habitats critical to various life-stages of fish species, it may conflict with the sustainable management of fishery resources and the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries.

APA

Currie, J. (n.d.). BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Currie, Jock. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights, n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Currie |first1=Jock |title=BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{curriendbrief, author = {Currie, Jock}, title = {{BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }