From the first drill sample to the day the rehabilitated ground is signed off and handed back.
Retreatment is a sequence, not a scramble. Each stage has to be finished before the next one earns its budget, and rehabilitation is not a stage bolted onto the end – it runs behind the working face from the moment material starts moving.
Before anything moves, the dump is drilled and sampled on a grid and the material is tested for grade, particle size and how it behaves through a plant. This is what decides whether an area is worth treating at all, and which circuit it needs.
Material is reclaimed in planned blocks with surface equipment. Only the volume the plant can take is opened at a time, which keeps exposed surface, and therefore dust, to the minimum the operation needs.
Chrome is separated by gravity and dense-medium methods. No smelting happens on site. Process water runs in a closed circuit and is recirculated, and the residue left after recovery is placed back into the area the material came from.
Cleared areas are reshaped to a stable profile, covered with stockpiled topsoil and revegetated with indigenous species suited to the area. Rehabilitation follows the reclamation face rather than waiting for closure.
Vegetation establishment, water quality and surface stability are monitored after rehabilitation until the agreed standard is met, the results are accepted and the land is formally signed off.
Haul roads and working surfaces are wetted, stockpiles are kept covered or damp, and the exposed face is kept small. Dust monitoring points are placed between the site and the nearest homes, not only at the boundary.
The plant runs a closed water circuit with contained return. Storm water is diverted around the working area, and surface and ground water quality is sampled on a set schedule against a pre-start baseline.
Haulage runs on agreed routes and agreed hours, away from school times where routes pass settlements. Noisy activities are confined to daylight working hours.
Governance is not a page in a brochure here. It is the structure the operation reports into every month.
A board of directors for each company, with independent members alongside partner representatives.
A technical and commercial panel that reviews plant performance, recovery and cost against plan.
A social and ethics committee with a standing brief on community, safety and environmental matters.
Statutory reporting and record keeping in line with South African company and environmental law.
The environmental and community side of the project, set out plainly.
