MINE WASTE SOLUTIONS – STILFONTEIN

This case study examines the environmental authorization and water use licensing processes for a 'Centralized Tailings Deposition Facility' (CTDF) in Stilfontein, highlighting failures in public participation and administrative errors by government departments.

• The North West Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (NW DACE) dismissed an appeal by the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE) based on a technicality that was actually the department's own error. The NW DACE had incorrectly cited the facility's location as being north of Stilfontein in the environmental authorization, while the FSE appeal correctly identified the site as being to the south-east. The department dismissed the appeal because it cited the 'incorrect' property, even while the department was simultaneously processing an amendment to correct the location in the authorization.
• The project involves the construction of a 'Centralized Tailings Deposition Facility' (CTDF) on nine properties near the Vaal River, which is located approximately 2 km east and south of the proposed site. The project, proposed by Chemwes (Pty) Ltd, Mine Waste Solutions (Pty) Ltd (MWS), and First Uranium (Pty) Ltd, involves using high-pressure water cannons to slurry tailings from 15 dams for the recovery of gold, uranium, and sulphur.
• There were significant failures in public participation across two regulatory processes. For the environmental authorization under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), it is claimed that many landowners were unaware of the project until after authorization was granted. For the water use licence (WUL) issued on 11 June 2010, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs (DWEA) did not invite comments from interested parties.
• The FSE raised concerns regarding the environmental impact of the CTDF, specifically regarding the Koekemoerspruit Catchment Area and the risk of polluted water entering the Vaal River. A critical component for pollution mitigation—a sulphuric acid plant intended to remove 90% of sulphur from final tailings—was cancelled due to financial reasons, as communicated to the FSE on 20 October 2010.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). MINE WASTE SOLUTIONS – STILFONTEIN. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mine-waste-Solutions-Stilfontein.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. MINE WASTE SOLUTIONS – STILFONTEIN. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mine-waste-Solutions-Stilfontein.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=MINE WASTE SOLUTIONS – STILFONTEIN |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mine-waste-Solutions-Stilfontein.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndmine, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{MINE WASTE SOLUTIONS – STILFONTEIN}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Mine-waste-Solutions-Stilfontein.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }