No unauthorised activity at Vele

Melbourne, Australia — MININGREVIEW.COM — 03 August 2010 – Coal of Africa (CoAL) has come out with a statement strongly denying that it has carried out any unauthorised activity at its Vele mine project in South Africa.

The statement “’ issued here today “’ was in response to comments by the South African government that CoAL had flouted environmental laws.

South African minister of water and environmental affairs Buyelwa Sonjica said on Friday that the government would be investigating whether or not Coal of Africa had fulfilled environmental laws before it made a decision on halting development of the mine.

“CoAL would like to take this opportunity to state that to date, all activities undertaken at the Vele colliery have been carried out in accordance with the new order mining right granted for the Vele colliery, and that the company has not undertaken any activities for which authorisation has not been given,"” said executive deputy chairman Simon Farrell.

The company said it was unaware of the alleged activities the minister referred to and was seeking an immediate meeting with her to address any concerns.

Sonjica said the government had not formally alerted the company about its concerns, but was working towards a meeting with Coal of Africa.