�No more sand mining licences�
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday June 24, 2014 14:49
Instead, the department is assessing the available river sand resources in the country, which it is known have been severely depleted by illegal miners.
In a statement on Friday, the department said it was overwhelmed by high numbers of applications for sand mining, which were resulting in “too many overlaps.
“The department is currently overwhelmed with too many applications for river sand prospecting, which result in too many overlaps because there are no spaces in the rivers for new prospecting licence applications,” the statement reads.
“The department has to assess or confirm the availability or level of river sand before issuing out mineral concessions.
“The department can only start assessing the levels of river sand in our rivers after the rainy season or until further notice.”
The statement adds that the ongoing assessment will focus on identifying rivers with mineable resources that have not been the target of illegal mining or mining without approved programmes or environmental plans.
By law, any person or business that intends to prospect for sand must apply for surface rights from the relevant land authority, prepare an environmental management plan and also detail financial status with bankers’ reference and recent statements.
The applicant is also required to provide up to date curriculum vitae of the professionals who will undertake the exploration.
The department’s move comes in the wake of widespread illegal mining of river sand that has decimated resources in certain areas.
Villages such as Metsimotlhabe, Kumakwane, Thamaga, Kubung and Mmankgodi and other parts of Kweneng District have been hardest hit by illegal sand miners who allegedly intimidate and attack villagers who stand in their way.
The Greater Gaborone area has also suffered perennial shortages of concrete and bricks due to the depletion of river sand resources by illegal miners.
Two years ago, geological survey department officials announced that Moshupa and Mmankgodi had run out of the industrial mineral.
“There has always been a problem with that in the Greater Gaborone area,” Tiyapo Ngwisanyi, the department’s director told Mmegi at the time.
“River sand is being depleted on the Metsimotlhabe River while areas such as Moshupa, Mmankgodi do not have any.
“Two years ago, we set about trying to identify a project where we could manufacture sand from rocks.”
The project, run together with Swedish geologists, is piling pressure on industry to use fine crushed rock (quarry dust) for the manufacture of concrete and bricks, instead of river sand.
“A major change from the use of river sand to crushed rock is urgent, to prevent a halt in development due to material loss,” Swedish officials have said on the project. “Due to the poor, annual inflow of sand and the intensive construction of the Gaborone area, the resources are decreasing very rapidly.
“Local quarries do in fact deliver crushed rock to the concrete manufacturers, especially the coarser fractions.
“However, the quarries cannot produce enough fine material to match the demand for concrete. For this and other reasons river sand is still being used for concrete.”