Caitlin Ross
News that a permit has been granted to mine phosphate close to the West Coast Fossil Park, a National Heritage Site, has raised concerns about potential damage to the area, with one environmentalist describing it as a “dangerous threat”.
The 1.5 hectare area, situated between Vredenburg and Hopefield, is on land about one kilometer away from the park — home to marine or terrestrial fossils going back five to ten million years.
Phosphate deposits along the West Coast have caught the attention of several mining companies looking to cash in on the mineral, a hot commodity because of its use in fertilisers.
Braam Burger, director of Gecko Fert, the company which has been granted a permit, said he had waited more than two years for the permit.
Following extensive studies and assessments to satisfy authorities, the rights were finally granted two weeks ago.
Dr Gert van der Linde, director of the Fertilizer Association of South Africa, said mining the phosphate deposits on the West Coast would be extremely lucrative.
“It’s a great idea to reopen the mine. Currently phosphates are brought down from Palaborwa and it’s costly to bring it to Cape Town,” said van der Linde.
Ironically, the Fossil Park was only discovered due to its having originally been a phosphate mine.
But although the park is protected as a National Heritage Site, there are concerns about the potential damage mining could cause to the celebrated area.
Jimmy Walsh, chairperson of the West Coast National Biosphere Reserve, described phosphate mining as “the most dangerous threat to the area right now”.
He said the West Coast was under threat and mining the area would be “another form of rape”.
Dave Mitchell, chairperson of the West Coast Fossil Park Trust, said the Department of Minerals and Energy had “a huge responsibility” to screen all applications, and if all avenues were followed correctly “it’s very difficult for the authorities to say no”.
He said while it was ideal for as many people as possible to benefit from the fossil and mineral rich area, what was preserved in the fossil park was “globally unique, and prospecting in a declared national heritage site is not a good idea”.
Pippa Haarhoff, a paleontologist and director of the West Coast Biosphere Reserve, said a “sudden spate” of applications by companies to mine the area had begun over October, November and December last year.
But during this period people had been on holiday and so had been unaware of newspaper adverts.
She said objections would otherwise certainly have been lodged against any disruption of the fossil-rich land.
“It is an extremely fossil-rich area, containing fossils from all ages. The minute you dig a hole you’re very likely to encounter marine or terrestrial fossils going back five to ten million years,” said Haarhoff.
The rapid rise in demand for phosphates globally is due largely to its use in fertilizers, the key ingredients of which are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous.
Globally, phosphate use has increased due to the growing agricultural industries of China, South-East Asia, and Latin America, according to a 2007 study conducted by the International Fertilizer Industry Association.
On the West Coast, the subsurface phosphate deposits, located in Langebaan, Elandsfontyn and Saldanha, occur due to specific geographical phenomena.
Dr Dave Roberts, senior research scientist at the Council for Geoscience, said phosphates had formed because of the highly rich cold Benguela upwelling system, which nurtured the marine organisms from which the phosphates were formed.
He said mining always had negative consequences from noise, dust, water pollution, visual impact and destruction or damage to archaeology.
However, he said as long as proper impact studies were conducted before mining started, and if necessary measures were taken, heritage could be protected.
He said it was important that scientists were present to monitor the activities if it was likely that fossil or archaeological material would be uncovered.
“This is certainly the case for any phosphate mining along the West Coast,” he said. – West Cape News
Dr Shadreck Chirikure