Times Of Swaziland: E7BN MINING PROJECT STOPPED,  LICENCE REVOKED

E7BN MINING PROJECT STOPPED,  LICENCE REVOKED
================================================================================
Mfanukhona Nkambule on 14/01/2024 17:24:00


BULEMBU – The mining licence given to a Mauritius- based company to extract
gold from tailings at Bulembu has been revoked.
It could not be immediately ascertained why the Minerals Management Board (MMB)
advised the King to cancel the licence.Asked what happened to the mining project
that was launched by His Majesty the King in 2016, Robert Biyela, the
Commissioner of Mines, said a decision was taken in 2022 to revoke the licence.
When he was asked about the reasons for cancelling the licence, Biyela said it
was difficult to give details on a matter concerning a person who was still
alive and could be the one better suited to shed light on what actually
happened, leading to the revocation of the lease.
Lloyd Birell, the Chief Operating Officer of Salamander Mining, had not
responded to questions on why the licence was revoked or whether they were happy
with the Board’s decision. Kobolondo Mining’s ambition was to make use of
the minerals available at the defunct Bulembu Havelock Mine, in the northern
part of Eswatini.
Defunct
Minerals such as gold, magnesium, chrysolite, nickel and chrome that need to be
extracted from the tailings are believed to be in abundance at the defunct mine.
EmaSwati in the northern part of Eswatini had anticipated job opportunities
after the King had launched the project. “The licence for the mining project
to which you are referring was revoked in 2022,” the commissioner said. He did
not answer the question on why the licence was revoked.
A business paper prepared for investment institutions dated July 2020 and seen
by this publication states that the Kobolondo project status had completed the
following:
*Scoping phase (completed); 	*Competent persons report (completed); 	*Resource
evaluation (completed); 	*Environmental Impact Assessment (completed);
	*Environment licence (pending – subject to orphanage relocation plan); 
	*Salamander Mining, which prepared the report on the Kobolondo project, stated
that it (project) was a high yielding investment opportunity with an investment
of E1.8 billion (US$100 million) required for the first phase.
The first phase was to see roaster production at 20 000 tonnes per month,
translating to 240 000 tonnes per year. At that level, the project had a net
present value of E7 billion (US$400 million). According to the documents, during
the initial phase, the company had anticipated producing 493 700 tonnes of
magnesium sulphate per annum, with a revenue of E2.597 billion. It is said that
the investment also included the provision of seed funding to restart the
Eswatini Gold Mining Industry, the value of which was exponentially incremental
to the returns from the mining project.
Kobolondo Mining (KMS) is an Eswatini-registered company jointly owned by
Salamander Mining International (SMI), the Ingwenyama in Trust for the Nation
and the Government of Eswatini. Salamander is based in Mauritius.
Rehabilitate
KMS had been granted a mining lease to rehabilitate the tailings and extract,
process and upgrade commercially viable minerals, primarily magnesium, nickel
and iron, over the extended lease period of 20 years. It must be said that
Kobolondo Mining had also obtained a mining lease to rehabilitate the abandoned
chrysotile tailings facility at Bulembu, which remained from the now defunct
Bulembu Havelock Mine. This also happened in November 2016.
The company was unveiled to the Bulembu traditional authorities and Bulembu
Ministries by the Minerals Management Board (MMB) during a function held at the
Bulembu Community Hall. The then MMB Chairperson, Winston Lomahoza, highlighted
that they made a thorough analysis of the scope and implications of the intended
work and came to a conclusion that this was a beneficial endevour to the
Eswatini nation and government.
This was after the company had submitted a proposal to rehabilitate the dumps.
Lomahoza said the MMB conducted a due diligence in March 2015, at an operation
owned and operated by a technical partner of the company, Birrell Mining
International (BMI) at a gold mine in Pilgrims Rest in the Mpumalanga Province,
South Africa, to show the gold processing and beneficiation. “BMI demonstrated
that they can efficiently recover gold from an ore or gold bearing or like the
dumps at Bulembu. The Board confirmed that BMI is a specialist dumps reclamation
entity with operations found in South Africa,” remarked Lomahoza. “BMI has a
state-of-the-art plant, equipment and expertise in the field of reclamation of
dumps.”
Invest
The then Hhohho Regional Administrator (RA), Prince Tshekedi, now late, had said
the King had seen it fit to give the Bulembu Mine a second chance. He thanked
Kobolondo Mining for choosing to invest in the country at a time when the
country needed jobs. It must be said that His Majesty King Mswati III granted
Kobolondo Mining a 10-year mining lease for the rehabilitation of the
tailings.In terms of the Mining Act, Kobolondo Mining could have been owned by
the King in trust of the Eswatini nation (25 per cent), government (25 per cent)
and the remaining 50 per cent held by Kobolondo Mining International (KMI) based
in Mauritius.
But, it has turned out that Salamander Mining jointly owns Kobolondo Mining.  In
June 2017, Kobolondo Mining and Bulembu Ministries Eswatini (BMS) reached an
agreement that gave the former the right to purchase the farm and infrastructure
of Bulembu. That was subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals.
Activity
The BMS had purchased the village and surrounding farm in 2006 and
infrastructure of Bulembu following the closure and liquidation of the Havelock
Asbestos Mine.  At the time, the village was almost deserted, with limited
economic activity.  What remained was the remnants of the old mining community
and its operations. Over the past years, BMS restored the town of Bulembu
through a joint strategy of community care and community enterprise. This was
achieved through starting several businesses, including Bulembu Honey, Bulembu
Water, Bulembu Country Lodge, a dairy and a timber business. Development
resulted in the village of Bulembu having an integrated and comprehensive
childcare programme for 380 vulnerable children.
Welfare
Following the granting of the licence to rehabilitate the abandoned tailings
dump, BMS’s priority was to ensure the welfare of the children in their care,
away from the environmental hazards normally associated with rehabilitation
activities. The relocation planning process was expected to take some 18 months.
According to the agreement, Kobolondo was expected to finance the relocation of
the childcare programme in early 2019, in anticipation of the rehabilitation and
resultant production processes.
In addition, Kobolondo was expected to make annual corporate social
responsibility contributions to BMS for the life of the project to assist with
the ongoing sustainability of the childcare programme.Kobolondo was to continue
to work closely with BMS in managing the relocation to a new site. That was to
include minimising the impact on the community, as well as those who were to
remain in the village.
One of the executives of BMS had said at that time: “The agreement that we
signed will see the continuation of the good work started by BMS, as well as the
rehabilitation activities at Bulembu by Kobolondo, in line with His Majesty’s
wishes within the mining lease.”
Sue Elsey, who was the CEO of Kobolondo, had mentioned that the next 18 months
would involve a great deal of hard work and discussions with all those involved
in the planning for the relocation and the village.
Kick-start
At that time, it was projected that a sum of E550 million could have been the
adequate capital to kick-start the project. Word went out that the venture could
eventually give back billions of Emalangeni in dividends and taxes of several
years.This is due to the fact that there were presumably 48 million tonnes of
unrehabilitated mining dumps at Bulembu area and these were said to be rich in
minerals, particularly the gold. As it were, the project was necessitated by the
fact that the asbestos mining dumps posed a danger to the environment and
humans. It was mentioned that the rehabilitation would not only bring in
revenue, but would also restore the environment by rehabilitating the mine
dumps.