West Coast threatened by unregulated transport and storage of bulk neurotoxic manganese
Manganese scare on West Coast
Residents and visitors to the beloved West Coast are up in arms over the proposed plans of giant mining companies to use this unspoilt coastal region as a dumping site for toxic minerals and elements such as manganese and iron ore en route to the Saldanha Bay harbour.
Transnet Port Terminals’ (TPT) application to enlarge the Saldanha Bay harbour facilities for handling and storing increased volumes of manganese and iron ore was met with solid public resistance – primarily due to the fact that the hazardous red iron dust that has been plaguing the region for decades has never been addressed effectively despite decades-long ongoing urgent appeals and health concerns.
Now TPT wants to drastically increase both the iron ore and manganese storage at the harbour, but residents feel the health, environmental and pollution risk is too high if TPT could never even manage to curb the excessive red dust pollution from the existing much smaller volumes of iron ore. Furthermore, manganese is a known neurotoxic element that can cause various severe or even fatal illnesses from continuous exposure to its fine dust and particles that spread and accumulate in the air, soil, groundwater and seawater.
TPT proposes to increase manganese storage by 360 000 t to achieve a storage capacity of 450 000 t in designated storage areas at its Manganese Handling Facility, to achieve a throughput of 8 Mtpa. This will entail that hundreds of extra loaded trucks carrying these heavy metals and toxic elements will be travelling 24/7 to and from the designated storage warehouses until it is eventually taken to the Saldanha harbour for export.
https://web.facebook.com/523928396/videos/1222761828272686/
Apart from the serious health and environmental concerns, the enormous impact of these increased volumes on the region’s already burdened infrastructure, roads, traffic, tourism and ecosystems is immeasurable.
INSULT TO INJURY
While these serious concerns are still being addressed in ongoing public participation processes and environmental impact studies, farms and agricultural land along the Langeenheid Railway Station between Vredenburg and Hopefield have already been transformed into a polluted wasteland where enormous bulks of garnet and manganese are stockpiled in the open. Apparently, up to 100 000 tonnes of these hazardous elements are allowed to be stored in the open.
Residents in the area have been watching helplessly how huge structures (warehouses) seemingly shot up overnight on their doorstep where horses, buck and other wildlife still roam freely. The noise and dust from hundreds of trucks coming and going 24/7 along private farm roads off the R45 to dump tonnes of manganese, garnet and other minerals in the open, has made life unbearable. Some residents in the area already suffer serious health problems, including respiratory, skin and inflammation issues. The infamous West Coast wind blows the fine dust and particles kilometres far and houses in the area are already stained black.
Manganese Toxicity Symptoms, Side Effects & Remedies
https://labs.selfdecode.com/blog/manganese-toxicity/
Toxicological Profile for Manganese.
After the serious reports and deaths due to manganese poisoning in the Eastern Cape, the bulk of export manganese is now stealthily brought to the West Coast and illegally stored in the open?
Furthermore, the railway lines and sleepers along the Langeenheid station are being removed and replaced by concrete-enforced sleepers, apparently without any legal authority.
These premature and seemingly unauthorized activities at the industrial corridor along the Langeenheid Railway station and sidelines came under the spotlight when Mixcorp Pty Ltd – a SA Intermodal company focusing on rail, road and port solutions – applied for Consent Use (special use) of agricultural land for industrial purposes. Mixcorp apparently in 2021 bought a portion of Farm 1043 (11.6675 hectares) from local businessman Hugo Tallie for the purpose of expanding/renovating the existing railway facilities and providing covered storage for minerals and chemical elements such as manganese and iron ore.
Mixcor’s CEO is the SA logistic business mogul Mixo Kobe.
Mixcorp’s application for Consent Use (special use) of agricultural land for these industrial purposes was submitted to the Saldanha Municipality in April 2021 while the transfer of property was still in progress. The Saldanha Municipality confirmed yesterday that NO approval has been given yet.
Mrs Bronwyn Hans, senior Town Planner : Land use & Development Control of the SBM confirmed yesterday that the “land use application is still in progress and all interested and affected parties whom commented on the land use application will receive a notification of the outcome and will be afforded a right to Appeal the outcome.” (sic)
Confronted with photos and videos of the activities at Langeenheid station that Weskusontheline sent to the SBM via email, Hans said the SBM is totally unaware of these activities. She said a municipal team, including environmental experts, would be sent to the area to investigate.
Photos, videos and health concerns regarding manganese poisoning can be found on our Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/weskus123/posts/pfbid06vXAjStjMd4krfoLVjzczbbsqAMHjBayFtec94PPy2DcN89BFeM7ZLLenYr9xuNal
Asked why almost nobody on the West Coast was seemingly aware of Mixcorp’s application for consent use and many other similar applications, and what public participation processes were followed, Hans admitted “only affected people in the area were visited and informed and they have lodged concerns and complaints”.
When mentioned that these applications affect ALL West Coast residents and businesses and should have been prominently advertised as the transport and storage of hugely increased volumes of neuro-toxic elements pose serious health and environmental threats to the entire region, she offered to add Weskusontheline as an interested and affected party (I&AP) and said I&AP’s will get the opportunity to appeal once a decision has been made.
Weskusontheline also approached the municipal manager of the Berg River District Municipality, adv. Hanlie Linde, who undertook to bring it under the attention of their environmental officer.
An excerpt of the official document reads:
“Portion 1 of Farm 1043 was recently purchased by Messrs. Mixcorp Pty Ltd from Saldanha Dry Bulk Terminal CC.
“Transfer of the property is in process and has Mr Hugo Tallie, as authorized representative of Saldanha Dry Bulk Terminal CC, as the current registered owners of Portion 1 of Farm 1043 (“the subject property”), appointed CONRADIE GOODWIN & ASSOCIATES (“the applicant”), to apply to the Saldanha Municipality for a Consent Use (Special Use) on behalf of Messrs. Mixcorp Pty Ltd
“Our client intends to use the property in question adjacent to the Langeenheid Station for the expansion of Railway Facilities including the covered storage of minerals and the manufacturing of railway sleepers.
“Mixcorp (PTY) Ltd provides comprehensive logistics solutions to the mineral and mining industry, specialising in bulk handling, loading and shipping, warehousing, containerising and ocean freight management.
Mixcorp is a 100% black-owned company and a level 1 BBBEE contributor.
“Our client intends to use the property in question adjacent to the
Langeenheid Station for the expansion of Railway Facilities including the covered storage of minerals and the manufacturing of railway sleepers.”
Read the document here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g-2UH-wGuhX9GEE4EQommLc5b3BZy4Y0/view
BACKGROUND TO THE MANGANESE RUSH ALONG THE WEST COAST
The proposed increase in manganese storage and handling capacity at the MPT will largely utilise existing infrastructure and facilities at the MPT, although construction of a third manganese storage warehouse with a storage capacity of 200 000 t is proposed.
Manganese is currently exported through the manganese ore terminal in the Port of Port Elizabeth (PE) which has the capacity to handle up to 6 Mtpa of manganese ore. The existing facility at the PE Port will be decommissioned shortly once the new proposed Ngqura Manganese Ore Export Facility is completed.
Due to financial constraints, the development of the Ngqura Manganese Ore Export Facility was temporarily suspended, which triggered an investigation into a multi-channel approach due to the urgency to increase manganese exports and to close the PE bulk handling terminal.
This necessitated the urgent need to increase the manganese export capacity at the Port of Saldanha. Manganese is not one homogenous product and is separated (for storage) by client, grade and sizing. Infrastructure at the MPT is capable of handling additional volumes of manganese, but is hampered by storage capacity constraints, lack of adequate storage capacity to store products separately, as well as the absence of relevant environmental licences and permits to increase the manganese storage and handling capacity. This has hampered the efficiency of manganese handling at the port, leading to loss of revenue.
- SA is by far the world’s biggest exporter of manganese.
- SA’s biggest manganese mine (Assmang) contains approximately 80% of the world’s known high-grade manganese ore reserves.
- Originally established in 1935, Assmang is jointly owned and managed by African Rainbow Minerals of SA tycoon Patrice Motsepe and Assore. The company wholly owns the Nchwaning and Gloria manganese mines, near the Black Rock area of the Kalahari Manganese field.
- China steel making is by far the key driver of global demand for manganese. In China, 90% of manganese is used in the steel industry in the form of ferroalloys, and the other 10% is used in batteries and chemicals.
More background information, photos and videos of the manganese pollution in the West Coast can be found here: https://web.facebook.com/elsa.wessels/posts/pfbid0qpsbwEXcFkcGnyabKz7EMeVmuzcnMcg7GMs7oRJTsh9Jd3QrTpjGGoP1RuDm95QRl
Radioactive Manganese as an Indicator in Testing for Possible Equilibria between Several Valences of Manganese1
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja01299a020