ikwezi mine to employ 500 people

Good news, IMO.

http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/newcastle/newcastle-news-general?oid=5742946&sn=Detail&pid=4596137&Ikwezi-mine-to-employ-500-people

Ikwezi mine to employ 500 people

Ikwezi spokesperson, Shaun Zukor, explains that concerns the community may have about unsightly slag heaps are outweighed by the benefits to an impoverished community.

18 June 2012 | Estella Naicker

Unsightly slag heaps, environmental impact and added stress on the roads are the usual concerns raised by residents when a mine is being built.

However, human resources manager at Ikwezi Mining, Shaun Zukor, says that every mitigating factor has been taken into consideration in the company’s environmental management plan.

“The mine is being developed in a rural area, where the unattractive aspect of a mine is far outweighed by the benefits to an impoverished community. A single working person in the area is responsible for an average of six dependants,” said Mr Zukor.

When operations at Ntendeka Colliery begins, the R500 million project initiated by Ikwezi Mining is expected to yield approximately 110 000 tons of thermal coal a month.

At full production, the mine is expected to yield approximately 220 000 tons of coal a month, most of which will be exported.

However, the mine is expected to be ready for operations in the last quarter of the year, and not in July 2012, as the Advertiser was initially led to believe according to Mr Zukor, during a one-on-one in which he wished to set the record straight.

Mr Zukor explained that while Ikwezi had successfully obtained mining rights for 12 000 hectares within the Dannhauser municipal area, the water use licence and approval in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) was still outstanding.

The Ntendeka Colliery will comprise of both open cast and underground mining and is expected to employ 350 people, with first preference given to applicants who reside in the Amajuba District. At full production, the mine will employ up to 500 people.