PROPOSED RAISING OF THE WALLS OF TAILINGS STORAGE FACILITIES (TSF) 2 AND TSF2 EXTENSION (ALSO REFERRED TO AS TSF2 PHASE 1 AND TSF2 PHASE 2, RESPECTIVELY), BY 3-TO-5-METERS IN HEIGHT, AT EAST MINE FOR THARISA MINERALS

Tharisa Minerals (Pty) Ltd (Tharisa) has an opencast mining operation that produces chrome and platinum group metals (PGM) concentrate. The mine is located on Farms K/Kraal 342 JQ, Rooikoppies 297 JQ and Elandsdrift 467 JQ, south of Marikana in the North West Province. Tharisa extracts and processes the Middle Group (MG) 1 to 4 ores of the PGM in the Bushveld Igneous Complex. The mine currently operates three (3) processing plants, namely Genesis, Voyager and Vulcan. Genesis and Voyager are able to process 100 kt and 300 kt per month, respectively. The waste product produced by both plants is sent to the Vulcan plant for further extraction of chrome, after which, the tailings material is hydraulically pumped to TSF2 Extension for storage. Currently, there are two active waste storage facilities, i.e TSF2 and TSF2 Extension and these are expected to reach their Full Supply Level (FSL) by December 2025 based on the current tailings production. The proposed project is, therefore, for the raising of walls of TSF2 and TSF2 Extension to increase the capacity of waste storage.
Province(s): North West