Proposed upgrade to the existing railway infrastructure at the Wessels Mine near Hotazel in the Northern Cape

South32 intends to upgrade the existing railway infrastructure at the Wessels Mine. The upgrade will consist of modifications to the staging rail lines and the design of a new rail balloon. The extension of the railway into the new railway balloon measures at approximately 2 500 m long and 25 m wide and would result in the clearing of indigenous vegetation (more than 1 hectare, but less than 20 hectares). Additionally, the railway would cross a section of the existing tailings dam and would thus result in the removal of approximately 15 000 – 25 000 m3 of material from the tailings area, which would then be deposited on another existing tailings dam. The new railway extension would be located within the existing Mining Right (MR) boundary at the Wessels Mine and amendments to the mine’s Water Use Licence (WUL) are not required.