A Water Tribunal hearing into an appeal against the granting of an integrated water-use licence for Aim-listed emerging African phosphate producer Kropz’s 74%-owned Elandsfontein project, in the Western Cape, started on Wednesday.
The company advised that it would not provide further comment on the proceedings until the Water Tribunal had made a decision.
The hearing was initially scheduled for September, but was suspended at the request of the appellant.
Kropz has already invested more than $120-million on the project, which is expected to deliver more than one-million tonnes a year of phosphate rock concentrate.
The hearing is the latest step in a five-year battle between the developers of the project and environmental activists. The activists claim the water-use licence for the mine, which has yet to begin production, was awarded improperly.
African Rainbow Capital, which is a significant investor in Kropz, said the claims could not be substantiated, while Kropz has refuted the allegation that the “licence is illegal”.
Kropz previously stated that test work had confirmed that the Elandsfontein orebody was complex with regard to particle size distribution and grade variability.
“The provisional conclusion from the test work is that a reverse flotation modification to the current circuit will produce saleable product, but at lower grades than originally targeted by the company.
“Therefore, and as a direct consequence of the prevailing depressed phosphate rock prices, an alternate process modification is being considered to deliver the required process efficiencies at viable economic returns,” it said in a statement.