From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

Sashnee Moodley:

Brickmaker Corobrik has outlined its plans for accessing prime clay at its Rietvlei operations, assuring that while it needs to remove coal deposits, it has no intention of becoming a coal producer. Natasha Odendaal has the story.

Natasha Odendaal:

Corobrik has been operating an open-cast clay brick production facility, with capacity of up to 88-million bricks a year, adjacent to the ecologically sensitive Rietvlei Nature Reserve in Centurion for decades.

After running into coal deposits at its Rietvlei quarries, the brick manufacturer has a two-fold plan - remove the coal currently situated above prime clay deposits while accessing carbonaceous shale to lower its gas use by up to 20%. Corobrik CEO Nick Booth tells us more about the operations.

Corobrik CEO Nick Booth…

Natasha Odendaal:

Corobrik, despite having no intention of becoming a coal miner, is required to obtain a mining licence specifically for the coal, and applied to the DMRE as early as 2022 to obtain a licence to remove it and secure ongoing access to the clay reserves present.

This led to concerns emerging about the planned coal removal from the site, with environmental organisation Greenpeace issuing a petition against the granting of a mining application and to stop any assessment and proposals for any coal operations.

Greenpeace said that this will threaten climate, biodiversity and wildlife within the conservation area, which is home to various wildlife such as various bird species, rhino, cheetah and buffalo, and provides 15% of Pretoria’s water supply, and will have impact on air and water quality in the region.

Corobrik CEO Nick Booth…

Natasha Odendaal:

Booth assures of stringent environmental protection procedures, with Corobrik committed to strict environmental responsibility and compliance with all regulations, including ongoing water and dust monitoring and alien vegetation eradication.

He assures that, over the planned seven-year coal-removal period, the coal will be properly removed and disposed, with an experienced contractor appointed to mine the low-quality coal, stockpile it to a limit of 100 000 t and remove it from the site.

Sashnee Moodley:

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy. Don’t forget to listen to the audio version of our Engineering News daily email newsletter.