2-App-NMP minutes-2-Authorities-WHK - Enviro Dynamics Namibia

Namibian Marine Phosphate: Sandpiper Phosphate Project
20 September 2011, 14h30
NamPower Convention Centre, Windhoek
Minutes: Windhoek Authorities
1.1 Introduction and Welcoming
Stephanie van Zyl from Enviro Dynamics cc, the facilitator, welcomed everyone present to
the meeting. The agenda for the meeting was outlined followed by an introduction of the
proponent, EIA team and specialists. The role of the attendees was also explained as to
provide input and assist the team with gathering data and identifying issues that need to be
studied. It was also highlighted that the process is now in the scoping phase, thus answers
to the questions cannot be provided at this stage.
It was further explained that the study will be conducted in three phases. The EIA process is
currently in the data gathering phase which will be used to make assessments, followed by
the reporting phase. The importance of feedback was highlighted, hence the fact that all the
reports will be circulated to the stakeholders for their comments.
The role of the proponent was explained as to provide project information including aspects
which interact with the environment, while the EIA team has to share this information with
the interested and affected parties and facilitate sincere discussions. The audience was
again encouraged to provide their inputs.
1.2. Project Overview
The following information on the proposed project was provided by Roger Daniel, one of the
Directors of NMP:
NMP is a joint venture between Tungeni Investments, Minemakers and Union Resources.
Each party had their own EPL(s) thus by forming a joint venture; the license area was jointly
larger and these companies will not be in competition with each other in the market place.
This allowed the companies to combine their various skills and expertise and is seen as the
best way forward for developing this project.
The Board of Directors was introduced followed by a highlighting of major milestones. This
included the signing of the shareholder agreement, a pre-feasibility study, securing the
mining license in July 2011, upgrading the resource in August 2011 and then commencing
the EIA study in September 2011.
The project location was indicated on a map, showing it to be located between Walvis Bay
and Lüderitz, approximately 60km offshore. Another map was presented showing the areas
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which have been tested for phosphates. Currently, an area of approximately 2,233km² has
been issued as a mining licence area, while the remainder of approximately 4,700km² held
as EPL(s).
It was mentioned that marine sediments will be mined. A key to this project is the fact that
this resource is accessible and can be mined using current dredging technology, at a depth
of 225m.
A map indicating the granted mining license area (MLA) and the resource blocks were
shown. This was followed by information of the process used for testing the resource which
constitutes a gravity corer dropped into the seafloor, extracting a sample.
The resource was found to be compliant with international stock exchange standards. Two
cut-off grades were identified, namely 10% and 15%. Ignoring anything less than 15%, an
inferred resource containing 19% phosphate was found, which is very good. The resource is
generally up to 3m thick, but historical data shows it can be up to 6m in some areas.
Namibia ranks 7 th in the world in terms of this phosphate resource.
The rationale for investing in Namibia was mentioned, which includes the country’s
attractiveness physically and to work in, good infrastructure, good governance, and good
facilities at the port of Walvis Bay.
Economic Scoping
Mr. Daniel also presented the findings of the pre-feasibility study which was based on a 25-
year base-case model. The operating costs, freight on board was found to be under
US$60/ton whereas other similar projects in the world have much higher costs. The selling
price was estimated to be US$90/ton, this showing strong economics for the project.
During the pre-feasibility phase, a number of companies were worked with. These consisted
of Jan De Nul (dredging specialists), Bateman (Phosphates), Paterson and Cooke (specialist
in moving slurry) and IHC (a mining engineering company).
Maps and images of the proposed processing plant site on land, the pipeline routes, the
dredging vessel to be used and the way it dredges the material were shown. It was
explained that the ship will transport the material to a fixed-point mooring point
(approximately 1km offshore) to the south of Walvis Bay from where it will be pumped into a
buffer pond. From here, the material will be transported to the preferred process plant site
(agreements are underway with the Walvis Bay Municipality and the State to acquire the
land) where the oversize will be scalped and de-watered. This phosphate sands (known as
phosphate rock in the industry) will then be transported to the harbor for export. Alternative
transport options to the port are being investigated.
An example of a sinker pipeline and the operations in the holding pond, were shown. It was
mentioned that existing dredging technology was used and that the Cristobal Colon, a
trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) is the preferred vessel for this project.
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Product Marketing
It was explained by Mr. Daniel that no chemicals will be added in the processing of the of the
phosphate slurry. The product (‘phosphate rock’) has been tested and was found to be
reactive with soils under the right climatic conditions (wet & humid). Therefore it can be
applied directly to the ground – Direct Application Phosphate, there is a large market in
India. The product will be exported into Africa, also to South America and Asia. There are
downstream beneficiation possibilities, which may be developed at a later stage, 5 to 10
years down the line. They will undergo separate EIA processes to identify and address
specific environmental and social risks.
Namibia is well located between the potential markets. For example, transport will take 9
days from Namibia to South America which is a very competitive timeframe.
As for the development plans, future activities will include bulk sampling, more sampling to
upgrade the resource in 2012. The project is planned to be commissioned in 2013.
A short film on the proposed mining process was shown, based on operations of the
Cristobal Colon.
Questions asked for clarification purposes by the end of this section of the presentation, are
presented in the table below:
Commentator Issue/Comments Response By Whom
W. Nashandi
Did you get all this information
Initially samples were taken
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
from the gravity corer?
using a grab system. This
was followed up with the
gravity corer.
(NMP)
W. Nashandi
Should I take it that this EIA is
We will process up to
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
only being done for the marine
part? Will the terrestrial EIA
include further beneficiation
phosphate rock. The
separate EIAs for the
marine and land
(NMP)
J. Midgley
processes?
components include this
scope. We might further
process the phosphate in
(JMA-
Consultant)
future, but for this we will
need a new site along with
a new EIA process.
W. Nashandi
What is the total size of the
2.233km²
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Deputy
mining area?
(NMP)
Director)
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Commentator Issue/Comments Response By Whom
W. Nashandi
How far can the dredge arm go
The arm is dropped
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
sideways?
vertically adjacent to the
vessel. It can only move up
and down, but not really
(NMP)
J. Midgley
sideways. On the
photograph the arm shown
is about 190m long, but it
(JMA-
Consultant)
will be longer than the
vessel, the final length is no
yet known.
W. Nashandi
How long is the vessel?
220m long.
P. Morant
(MTI:
Deputy
I was worried that if the arm
There will be signals by day
(CSIR)
Director)
goes sideways far away from
and lights by night to
the ship, it can potentially cause
indicate the activities of the
collisions with passing ships.
dredger.
W. Nashandi
Should the EIA not include up
The resource that we have
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
to a depth of 6m to indicate if
the resource is located deeper
than 3m?
identified is located within
the top 3m. The resource
is large and according to
(NMP)
studies there is enough in
3m for 20-25 years of
mining.
1.3. EIA Process:
Stephanie van Zyl explained that this EIA is being done in line with Namibian legislation such
as the Environmental Management Act of 2007, the Prospecting and Mining Act, as well as
other various treaties and conventions. International standards, specifically the Equator
Principles and the Performance Standards of the International Funding Corporation (IFC) are
adhered to, so that the EIA documents will be of an acceptable standard to apply for
international funding.
A map was shown to explain how the project has two distinct components, namely marine
and terrestrial. Even though the project should be considered in its entirety, with the
required integration, two separate EIAs are being conducted for these two components.
It was explained that the EIA process is currently in the scoping phase during which data
and issues are gathered. This information will feed into a scoping report which will be
circulated to all registered stakeholders. The issues identified during this process will also
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determine the scope of the EIA and will be used to confirm the terms of reference of the
specialists so that all potential impacts identified are adequately investigated.
The scoping phase will be followed by the Environmental Assessment (EA) phase. This will
include the specialist investigations and assessment of potential impacts according to predetermined
standard assessment criteria. Mitigation or enhancement measures will also be
identified and included in the EA report which will be circulated for comments. Once all the
comments have been incorporated and the report finalized, it will be submitted to the
relevant authorities for environmental clearance. An Environmental Management Plan
(EMP) will also be compiled which is a detailed document that specifies how, when and by
whom the identified impacts should be managed during design, construction, operation and
decommissioning.
The EIA process considers the combination of public values and technical facts. Thus, there
is the public consultation process as well as the technical environmental analyses of facts by
the specialists.
1.4. Environmental Matters
This section of the presentation was conducted by Jeremy Midgley, the EIA team leader for
this project. The information presented, was as follow:
The material will be dredged and transported to shore, before the vessel returns to mine the
site again. This will be a three day cycle. The material will be transferred from the vessel at
the offshore mooring point to the shore into a holding pond, from where it will be sent via
pump station and pipeline to the process plant. The pipeline will be 30cm in diameter and
approximately 23km long. Archaeology has already been evaluated at in the area of the
proposed pipeline, process plant site and coastal buffer pond. Once the product arrives at
the pump station, the fine black sand containing phosphate will be separated from the shells.
The latter might be used in the cement industry, but other options are also being
investigated.
The product will be transferred from the site, which is situated 5km outside Walvis Bay, to
the harbour from where it will be shipped. A combination of methods to transport the final
product to the port are being investigated, these include conveyor belts, trucks and the
railway options.
As for the mining operations, seven options were investigated and evaluated from an
economic as well as environmental perspective. There are two principal approaches to
mining offshore 1) a mother vessel supported by several transport barges; 2) a large ship
with hopper (hold) in which the material mined can be transported to shore. A number of
factors determined the outcome of the preferred option mining method, these included
safety, pollution caused by spillage, the footprint of the mining control head (as the preferred
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option removes a layer of 0,5m deep and 11m wide) as well as its handling and storage
capacity. The TSPH is the preferred method of mining.
Different techniques for mining were also investigated. This constituted of the crawler,
mechanical grab or large diameter drill and the trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD). The
latter was identified as the preferred option since it has a holding capacity of 46,000m³, can
complete a cycle in three days, and has well established environmental controls and the
dredge head can also be accurately controlled.
It was explained that during Year 1 of the mining operations, 1.33mt will be mined over a
period of 11 weeks. This will increase to 5.5mt in Year 3 over 47 weeks. The latter is also
expected to be the ongoing rate of mining.
The Mining Licence Area for this project was indicated on a map showing the different
concentrations of phosphate distribution. These deposits were initially identified during the
1970s. At this stage, it was mentioned that phosphate is an important component of
fertilizers. China has stopped exporting their phosphate and instead opts to keep it incountry
for agricultural purposes.
A schematic of the dredging operations was shown. Aspects such as the depth of each
mining cut and the fact that excess water will be discharged from the vessel containing fine
sediments, were highlighted.
The production ramp-up was also discussed. In Year 1 approximately 1.33mt of solids will
be mined, exporting 0.5 to 1.0mt. This is expected to increase to 5.5mt being mined and
3.0mt to be exported by Year 3.
It was explained that there are different mining areas within the licence area. NMP has
obtained a 20-year mining licence to mine the deposit, the resource is a huge. An initial
mining target are of 8 × 22km² has been identified. The deposit is between 1.5m to 3.0m
thick. Up to 3km² will be mined annually.
The following potential environmental impacts have been:
• the annual removal of up to 3km²;
• the removal of up to 3m of the seabed;
• mortalities in benthic fauna and disturbance to their foraging areas and food sources;
• modifications to the water column and disturbance to the benthic fauna ecosystem.
One needs to understand the marine environment and establish baseline information on it
which will in this case include marine fauna, seabed and benthos, as well as the water
column. The specialist’s studies will consider these aspects.
A map indicating the locality of the mining areas in relation to the commercial fishing and
spawning grounds was presented. Hake and monk fish are found within the project area
and it was acknowledged that these are important commercially to the fishing industry.
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Looking at the overlaps between the MLA and the fishing grounds, only 1.92%, 4.54% and
2.54% fall within the hake and monk fishing areas, and the sole spawning and hake
spawning areas respectively. Considering the initial mining area of 8 × 22km², it does not
overlap with the either the hake or monk fishing areas nor hake spawning areas. An overlap
of 0.63% occurs between this block and the sole spawning area. (NOTE: it was indicated by
MFMR that the fish distribution information is outdated).
As for the benthos, 100 samples have been collected from 20 stations across the initial
mining target area, in which species such as polyceates were found. These benthic fauna
can also be found elsewhere along the coast. These samples were taken at both in- and
outside the mining area, providing a control against which one can measure change.
Potential impacts on the water column were also presented in a schematic. Impacts such as
the release of hydrogen sulphide, gill clogging, mortalities, an impact on oxygen levels and
the increase in turbidity caused by dredging and the discharge, will be assessed by the
specialists. The significance of the impacts will be established by specialist studies. The
significance of the information gathered will be assessed after which the mitigation measures
will be identified.
This section of the presentation was followed by questions asked for clarification purposes,
which are presented in the table below:
Commentator Issue/Comments Response By Whom
W. Nashandi
As for mortalities, is it only
Some fish spend time on the
P. Morant
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
macro fauna or are there
any other species on the
seabed that can be
seabed. Some of them hide
there. It is important to
understand the relationship
(CSIR)
impacted?
between the fauna on the
seabed and those in the
middle waters.
W. Nashandi
What is the total distance
The Marine Protected Area
J. Midgley
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
from the shore? The whole
area might be under a
protected area for
(MPA) has recently been
proclaimed. It extends from
the NAM-RSA border up to
(JMA-
Consultant)
spawning.
Meob bay.
The MPA is
landward of the project area
and there is no conflict with
the protected area (areas
shown on map). It does also
not mean that nothing can
happen in the conservation
area, for example, diamond
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Commentator Issue/Comments Response By Whom
mining.
The MPA might extend
northwards and they can also
extend it seawards. But if it
becomes too big it cannot be
policed.
W. Nashandi
It will be interesting to know
True. We should know the
J. Midgley
(MTI:
Director)
Deputy
how far the hydrogen
sulphide will be released
from the dredging site.
footprint of the project as this
will also protect you should
someone accuse you of
(JMA-
Consultant)
something.
W. Nashandi The 6m dredge head; will it
be a landing fast? How will
it impact on the fish with its
downward and extraction
force?
If it lands on a fish, it will be
sucked up. The same is true
for benthic fauna. It is
expected that the vibration
noise might cause some fish
to flee. Yet, some fish will still
be caught.
Dredging will take place at a
speed of 2km/hour. Pilchards,
anchovies and hake are
unlikely to get caught.
J. Midgley
(JMA-
Consultant)
P. Morant
(CSIR)
(MTI: Deputy
Director)
The pilchards might be hurt
more than the other
species.
Pilchards are higher up in the
water column. They will not
go into the ‘fog’ caused by
P. Morant
(CSIR)
dredging.
From previous experience,
J. Midgley
jellyfish tend to colonize mined
areas, and they will get sucked
up. We expect this to be a
(JMA-
Consultant)
possible issue.
W. Nashandi
What is the size of the pipe
¾ of a meter.
R. Daniel
(MTI:
Deputy
from the head?
(NMP)
Director)
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1.5. Questions and Comments
The floor was opened for discussions and this was facilitated by Ms S. Van Zyl. All the
questions and comments are presented in the table below.
Commentator Issue/Comments Response By Whom
P. Paulus
We are concerned about the
The terrestrial EIA will be
J. Midgley
(Water Affairs)
quality of the water. We
control the permits for which
you will have to apply
rolled out in approximately a
month to 6 weeks’ time and
your comment might be more
(JMA-
Consultant)
should you want to
applicable then. Dr. Carter will
discharge water.
look at the marine water
column issues. He also has
experience in the diamond
mining activities.
A.W. Shilongo
We are interested in
This initial process is a simple
R. Daniel
(ODC)
manufacturing. Do you
want to apply for an EPZ?
one and does not qualify for
an EPZ, but we can consider
(NMP)
this at a later stage.
A.W. Shilongo
How many people will be
It can accommodate 46
J. Midgley
(ODC)
onboard the vessel? What
will be their water demand?
people, but the crew may be
30 people. They have a water
purifier on board the ship for
(JMA-
Consultant)
drinking water.
A.W. Shilongo
Will there be an input of
This will fall under the
R. Daniel
(ODC)
chemicals?
terrestrial component. There
will be a need for fresh
(NMP)
washing water, rather than
chemicals. We can also use
retreated sewage water from
the municipality, up to 3000m³
per day. This water is
currently thrown away. Only
some is used for watering
municipal gardens.
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1.6. Conclusion
Everyone was thanked for their inputs. The attendees were also invited to submit comments
electronically should they wish by no later than 30 September 2011. It was mentioned that
the presentations will also be made available on the Enviro Dynamics website and that a
notification with the link will be e-mailed to all stakeholders.
The meeting was adjourned.
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Attendance list:
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