BACKGROUND TO THE RISKS
The mining industry is a complex integration of many disciplines, all of which, when aligned, contribute towards achieving the commercial targets of the enterprise. The risks are enormous but the rewards are satisfying. Amongst these risks, there are two fundamental issues that can have a fatal impact on the success of the operations – complications related to tenure and inaccurate databases.
1. Every mining company needs assurances that its access and entitlement to the surface and mineral rights are not prejudiced for the duration of its operations. Venture and development capital become extremely flighty as these rights are under threat. In South Africa, the threat to security of surface tenure is under scrutiny. Apart from land claims, the recent Regulation of Land Holdings Bill (2015) is aiming to achieve several outcomes:
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a new expropriation bill intends to limit access to (agricultural) land for foreigners and juristic persons to a single 30 year lease period with no ownership entitlement
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limitation of land ownership by an individual is to be set at 12 000ha. Anything larger will be acquired and redistributed by Government
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the Bill is due to be tabled to Cabinet for approval in the short term prior to public consultation, with the objective of having it enacted before end of 2015
2. The accuracy of original information which is uploaded into databases is crucial to any business enterprise. Potential fatal flaws are difficult to detect in their making but, with the evolution of time, their lethal impact can become extremely damaging to the mining operation. This applies equally to technical, financial, engineering, environmental, human resources and, of importance in this instance, to surface tenure.
Problems with the integrity and precision of a surface right database impart immense risks to mining companies. While the mining industry has been conscientious in the management of its mineral right portfolios, the same level of diligence may not always be obvious in the management of its surface rights. The ability to administer these threats is dependent on an accurate database which is managed through a competent land management system.
THE SERVICE
The multi-disciplinary nature of a mining operation is increasingly being compounded by the ability of the mining company to access land for the infrastructural requirements. This emerging situation highlights the need to institute a multi-component management system (comprising data, hardware, software, people, methods and management processes) to fully administer the spatial understanding of surface right ownership.
The South African mining industry is mature and, in many circumstances, the trail of statutory documentation is old and complex, compromised in terms of integrity and not always fully compliant. This is particularly where the operation has either not prioritised the management of its surface rights or where the mine has been under multiple ownership regimes over the life of the operation.
The selection of the appropriate software to administer its land management system is a relatively straightforward exercise and is a service not offered by The Mineral Corporation. However, the data that informs the land management system is of significant importance to The Mineral Corporation’s service offering. Mining companies need to be alert to the threat of “rubbish in, rubbish out”.
The Mineral Corporation Offers the Following Client-Specific Services to Address the Surface Entitlements:
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Intelligent conversion of hard copy documentation to soft format files. Crucial in this service offering is the capture, collation and transformation of the documentation from (often) fragmented, diverse and poorly preserved hard copy sources for its importation into an integrated and standardised digital database, thus making it available to the mining operation for use in its preferred land management system
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Diverse nature of Surface Rights: The assessment, collation, verification of the public domain surface right ownership of all land held by a company and the freehold within the mining rights form the basis of the assignment. This includes inter alia aspects such as: registered title, zoning of the land (including area calculations), appraisal of servitudes over mine operations, identification and substantiation of bulk infrastructure (in conjunction with mining personnel for water, power, waste, rail, roads), locating of both company and third party servitudes (with on-the-ground verification) and gap analyses on the compliance of servitudes from an administrative perspective. This endeavour should not be seen as a trivial task
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Tenure documentation: The final product is the ability to customise a solution to ensure that all documentation (including compliance, spatial data and future obligations) are accurately captured into an appropriate land management system (for example, Flexi Cadastre)
BENEFITS OF THE SERVICE
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All hard copy documents are collected, processed and validated for statutory compliance, thus moving away from intellectual capital being stored in the minds of a few individuals
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The benefit of applying and optimising the tools best suited for the specific task for each different circumstance.
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The ability to discover that data is missing and to take remedial action to restore the missing data
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The opportunity to identify complicated data and, where possible, rectify the problems by filtering and data formatting capabilities, allowing for fast isolation of troubling hot spots
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The capability to identify the illegal use of surface freehold
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The capacity to establish and reinforce management protocols for various processes. (For example, there are often oversights in respect of the practices required for the registration of servitudes)
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The ability to rectify the absence of attributable information attached to spatial features which, in a Geographic Information System, could be used for maintenance scheduling, monitoring, network analysis, budgetary planning and financial evaluation
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The facility to adopt multiple resources to document, verify and rectify delinquent data
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Through the experience and broad-based skill set, The Mineral Corporation can generate a comprehensive, accurate dataset of the information pertaining to surface rights for importation into a proactive land management system
THE RISK OF BEING EXCLUDED FROM OPERATING YOUR BUSINESS OWING TO THREATS TO YOUR SURFACE TENURE IS REAL AND ALL BUSINESSES, NOT ONLY MINING COMPANIES, SHOULD BE ALERT IN THIS REGARD.
The Mineral Corporation is African and provides a unique and professional solution for the exploration and mining industry in Africa, as well as in the global extractive industry in order to reduce risk, preserve value and accrete wealth for clients.