Murkiness of mining rehab funds in the spotlight
Atlatsa Resources and Exxaro came out tops for the usefulness and clarity of their information, of the 11 mining companies studied
Neither the law nor the accounting standards governing company disclosures ensure that mining companies are transparent about financial provision set aside to rehabilitate environmental damage. This is the key finding of the latest report in the Centre for Environmental Rights’ (CER’s) Full Disclosure series. Mining rehabilitation is a contentious issue in SA, with many abandoned gold mines being used as for illegal mining, while mine dumps become an increasing risk on the environment and pose health issues to communities surrounding mining areas. The study looked at what mining companies were doing to ensure clarity on what money had been set aside to rehabilitate mines after the end of their operating life. The law requires mining companies to set aside and ring-fence enough money to fix mines. If a mining company fails to rehabilitate‚ the state is supposed to be able to access that money and carry out the rehabilitation itself. While there are presumably companies that comply fu...
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