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Xolobeni mine
The Xolobeni mine is a proposed titanium mine located in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The proposed mine has reserves amounting to 348.7 million tonnes of ore grading 5% titanium.
The government decision to support the company's 2007 application for Mining Right was challenged by the Amadiba Crisis Committee (AAC), formed in 2007 by local people who would be affected by the mine. The lands have traditionally been held communally by local villages. The subsequent decades-long conflict has been marked by violence. The chairman of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, Sikhosiphi 'Bazooka' Rhadebe, was assassinated in 2016. Amnesty International has called on South Africa to respect the rights of indigenous people and to protect threatened indigenous rights advocates such as Nonhle Mbuthuma, another founder of the ACC.
In September 2016 the Minister of Mineral Resources announced an 18-month moratorium on mining in the Xolobeni area. In September 2018, it was proposed that the moratorium be extended for another two years. As of 22 November 2018, Judge Annali Basson of the Pretoria High Court stated that even if the informal rights of customary communities had not been protected by law previously, they had the right to decide what would happen to their land. Therefore the Minister of Mineral Resources cannot grant mining rights to the Xolobeni lands without first obtaining the full and formal consent of the Xolobeni community. In spite of the decision, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe continues to support the mining project.
Mineral Commodities Limited had confirmed the presence of mineral deposits in the area by 2002. As of March 2007, Mineral Commodities Limited’s South African subsidiary Transworld Energy and Minerals Resources submitted a Mining Right Application to the Department of Minerals and Energy (“DME”) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It described the Xolobeni Project as "one of the largest undeveloped mineral sands resources in the world". The area was projected to contain more than 9,000,000 tonnes of ilmenite, titanium-iron oxide mineral, as well as rutile, zircon and leucoxene. The expected lifetime of the mine was 22 years.
Mining rights to five sectors were requested as part of the Xolobeni Mineral Sands Project (Xolobeni). The Xolobeni area is described as being located "between the Mzamba and Mtentu Rivers, along the east coast of South Africa." The Kwanyana Block is described as extending "along the coast bordered by the Mnyameni River along the northern boundary and the Kwanyana River to the south." Five villages were included in the area: Sigidi, Mdatya, Mtulana, Kwanyana and Mthentu.
The area is characterized by "high unemployment, poor education levels and a rural population primarily dependent on agriculture, animal herding for sustenance", with 72.2% of people in the larger region living below the poverty line. It is one of the most impoverished communities in South Africa. There were efforts by several regional organizations, beginning as early as 1997, to develop ecotourism resources in the area. The main business in the area between 2000 and 2004 was AmaDiba Adventures, an EU-supported award-winning ecotourism initiative owned and run by the Amadiba community.
The proposed mine met fierce opposition from members of the local Xolobeni community, who formed the Amadiba Crisis Committee in 2007. The mining proposals were challenged both on the grounds that community members who would be directly affected had not been properly consulted, and on the grounds that the Xolobeni area is part of the Pondoland Marine Protected Area, and therefore not open to mining under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003.
The Department of Minerals and Energy, under Buyelwa Sonjica, granted mining rights to the Kwanyana Block to the Mineral Resource Commodities and to Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources as of 14 July 2008. The expected signing date for the Xolobeni Mining Right was 31 October 2008. This was blocked by the filing of an appeal by the Amadiba Crisis Committee and Grahamstown office of the Legal Resources Centre in September 2008, requesting that the Minister of Minerals and Energy suspend and appeal the decision to grant the Mining Right.
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Xolobeni mine
The Xolobeni mine is a proposed titanium mine located in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The proposed mine has reserves amounting to 348.7 million tonnes of ore grading 5% titanium.
The government decision to support the company's 2007 application for Mining Right was challenged by the Amadiba Crisis Committee (AAC), formed in 2007 by local people who would be affected by the mine. The lands have traditionally been held communally by local villages. The subsequent decades-long conflict has been marked by violence. The chairman of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, Sikhosiphi 'Bazooka' Rhadebe, was assassinated in 2016. Amnesty International has called on South Africa to respect the rights of indigenous people and to protect threatened indigenous rights advocates such as Nonhle Mbuthuma, another founder of the ACC.
In September 2016 the Minister of Mineral Resources announced an 18-month moratorium on mining in the Xolobeni area. In September 2018, it was proposed that the moratorium be extended for another two years. As of 22 November 2018, Judge Annali Basson of the Pretoria High Court stated that even if the informal rights of customary communities had not been protected by law previously, they had the right to decide what would happen to their land. Therefore the Minister of Mineral Resources cannot grant mining rights to the Xolobeni lands without first obtaining the full and formal consent of the Xolobeni community. In spite of the decision, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe continues to support the mining project.
Mineral Commodities Limited had confirmed the presence of mineral deposits in the area by 2002. As of March 2007, Mineral Commodities Limited’s South African subsidiary Transworld Energy and Minerals Resources submitted a Mining Right Application to the Department of Minerals and Energy (“DME”) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It described the Xolobeni Project as "one of the largest undeveloped mineral sands resources in the world". The area was projected to contain more than 9,000,000 tonnes of ilmenite, titanium-iron oxide mineral, as well as rutile, zircon and leucoxene. The expected lifetime of the mine was 22 years.
Mining rights to five sectors were requested as part of the Xolobeni Mineral Sands Project (Xolobeni). The Xolobeni area is described as being located "between the Mzamba and Mtentu Rivers, along the east coast of South Africa." The Kwanyana Block is described as extending "along the coast bordered by the Mnyameni River along the northern boundary and the Kwanyana River to the south." Five villages were included in the area: Sigidi, Mdatya, Mtulana, Kwanyana and Mthentu.
The area is characterized by "high unemployment, poor education levels and a rural population primarily dependent on agriculture, animal herding for sustenance", with 72.2% of people in the larger region living below the poverty line. It is one of the most impoverished communities in South Africa. There were efforts by several regional organizations, beginning as early as 1997, to develop ecotourism resources in the area. The main business in the area between 2000 and 2004 was AmaDiba Adventures, an EU-supported award-winning ecotourism initiative owned and run by the Amadiba community.
The proposed mine met fierce opposition from members of the local Xolobeni community, who formed the Amadiba Crisis Committee in 2007. The mining proposals were challenged both on the grounds that community members who would be directly affected had not been properly consulted, and on the grounds that the Xolobeni area is part of the Pondoland Marine Protected Area, and therefore not open to mining under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003.
The Department of Minerals and Energy, under Buyelwa Sonjica, granted mining rights to the Kwanyana Block to the Mineral Resource Commodities and to Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources as of 14 July 2008. The expected signing date for the Xolobeni Mining Right was 31 October 2008. This was blocked by the filing of an appeal by the Amadiba Crisis Committee and Grahamstown office of the Legal Resources Centre in September 2008, requesting that the Minister of Minerals and Energy suspend and appeal the decision to grant the Mining Right.