The report is meant to advise the Minister on whether to proceed with granting a licence, or whether to cancel, or withdraw it.

The task team made its submissions based only on documentation received and did not personally interact with interested and affected parties, as was initially anticipated.

The mining right for the Kwanyana block of the Xolobeni titanium-bearing minerals deposit was granted to Transworld Energy & Minerals (TEM) in August 2008 by the former Minerals and Energy Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica.

However, the decision was appealed when members of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) said that the licence was granted to the Australia-based mining junior without sufficient and reasonable consultation with the Xolobeni community as an interested and affected party.

The hearings, involving interested parties appealing the decision to grant TEM a licence to mine, were scheduled to take place in February.

However, these were subsequently cancelled, and no further hearings were held.

The ACC has been represented by the Grahamstown-based Legal Resources Centre, and representative Sarah Sephton said that the organisation and community of Xolobeni have been making significant efforts to establish the outcome of the recommendations to the department, to no avail.

Mining Weekly Online could not reach the Department of Mineral Resources for comment.

By: Christy van der Merwe