Back
27. Pering mine - meeting the challenges of closure
The Pering lead/zinc mine in the remote North-West Province in South Africa ceased production in February 2003. Throughout its life, the mine has contributed to the communities around it. Now the mine's closure is presenting new challenges for its employees and communities.
Pering, which began production in 1986, is situated 20 kilometres from Reivilo, about 500 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg. The region is arid and rural, and beef farming and mining are the main activities. A local dairy factory, which employed up to 300 people for many years, closed in 1999. Pering employed approximately 200 people, mainly from the local communities of Reivilo, Taung and Kuruman, with the majority from Reivilo.
The mine had been expected to produce until 2004; but, by mid 2002, it was clear that market conditions and ore reserves would force an earlier closure. The last concentrate was produced in February 2003.
When the mine was built, a Housing Assistance Plan helped employees to purchase property. The mine developed and partially funded a sports and recreation facility with the community. It also built and stocked a library and developed sewerage and water reticulation systems for the mine houses. After these systems were given to the municipality in 1996, the mine assisted employees to pay for the service, increasing municipal funding and helping to develop further infrastructure.
The mine has paid the salaries of two teachers throughout the mine life. A computer training centre, funded by the mine, teaches people of all ages at no cost and will be expanded to provide a computer-based adult basic education and training centre. The mine has sponsored a community garden and a meals scheme for underprivileged pre-school children. Pering employees have participated actively in local affairs, and a number have served as town councillors and mayors.
Pering commenced closure discussions with labour, local NGOs, and local and national government organisations in November 2001, operating under the Department of Labour's Social Plan guideline, which was later passed into law. The relationships between this broad range of stakeholders proved extremely challenging; and, for a time, there was little progress with project delivery. This was largely because of the various stakeholders' lack of experience with the process, as it is new in the country. Political pressures, issues relating to control of resources and a lack of continuity of the government representatives involved all interfered with progress.
The closure process took a turn for the better when a consulting company was engaged to facilitate and to conduct community baseline studies and surveys, with the goal of identifying possible projects to mitigate the effect of job losses on Reivilo's economy. The consultants provided a strong chairperson who drove the process much more effectively than the mine had been able to do before. Despite some community resistance, the consultants were effective in getting the process moving and giving it direction. At the same time, the National Productivity Institute conducted a study that confirmed there was no alternative to closure.
The consultant's studies showed that, while Pering had contributed positively to the community, it was also responsible for most of the economic activity and was the only multiplier industry. Reivilo is an extremely poor, isolated community largely made up of the very young and the very old. There are few job-creation opportunities, and the town is only marginally sustainable.
In 2002, a senior national official of the Department of Minerals and Energy stepped in to take custodianship and act as facilitator in the closure process. All the participants had to adapt to a changing legal system. Politics remained a stumbling block, and the formal process appears not to have given adequate voice to the concerns of the local community and non-employees. The main outcome has been a non-profit company, formed to obtain and manage funds to drive projects. Structures and processes are about to be regulated.
Future closures in South Africa will remain a challenge, but there will be more experience and guidelines on which to operate. The key learning has been that the various stakeholder organisations must be engaged at as high a level as possible, as early as possible, because the top echelons of the organisations have the best understanding of their needs, strategies, and capabilities. Once objectives and strategy have been aligned at the top levels, in an atmosphere of cooperation, each organisation can then use its people to implement those objectives and strategy. Of course, the mine also needs to formulate its own objectives and strategy well beforehand. To participate fully in the process, local communities should be encouraged to form NGOs, to build common goals and to take charge of their future and aspirations.
Success depends not just on the mine but on all the stakeholders. Government organisations should provide guidance while being seen to be fair. A social closure plan, if it is to result in sustainable projects, must begin before the project starts and must live throughout the operation. In this way, trust and understanding, with positive contributions from all, can result in sustainability by the time the operation reaches closure. Failing that, a closing operation will not have the resources to deliver a desirable outcome.
