By Mercy Matonga:
Government seems to have taken its first step to allow mining on Mulanje Mountain after granting an exploration licence to a mining firm to explore the mountain for minerals.
Over the years, there has been resistance from environmentalists and citizens in general to the idea to mine on the mountain which is said to have minerals such as bauxite.
According to information sourced from the Malawi Mining Cadastre, an online portal with information of all licensed areas for mining or exploration activities, the contracts have been granted to Akatswiri Resources Limited under EPL0504 licensing code.
The three-year contract granted on October 5, 2021, is expected to expire on October 5, 2024 and is for exploration of bauxite and rare earth.
Usually, exploration licences are granted to companies that will eventually be granted mining licences in order for the companies to ascertain the quantity of the minerals in the particular area of exploration.
Another company, Planet Mining Resources Limited, applied for a similar license in a nearby area but is yet to be granted the licence. The company wants to explore rare earth and base metal elements for an area of 303.23 square kilometres.
Amid the fears of what toll any mining could have on the mountain, Malawi News understands that the government’s decision has been made without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Director of Mining in the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Samuel Sakhuta, confirmed in an interview the granting of the exploration licence to the mining company. He said the license will expire later this year (2024) and the government will decide whether to renew the license or not.
“The company applied for its licence, and it has not been given yet. We issue a licence only when a company finalises Environmental Impact Assessment.
“We were told that they started the assessment process, but we are not sure of the progress. All we know is that they consulted stakeholders in Mulanje and we have the documents, but for now the licence has not been approved,” said Sakhuta.
We tried to call Akatswiri Mining Company chairperson Hilton Banda several times during the week but we did not get hold of him.
We also sent a questionnaire to him but there was no response.
We wanted him to give the status of the mining of the bauxite and whether all requirements were fulfilled.
But reacting to the development, both the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and conservation groups expressed reservations on the prospect of mining the mountain which stands at 3, 002 metres above sea level and is the highest in the country and third in African.
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Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources Welani Chilenga said the committee was aware of the granting of the license but was dismayed as the mountain is one of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) heritage site.
He described the move as “very contrary to international laws.”
Chilenga said the committee was further worried that the push for mining on a protected site was being prioritised instead of mining ventures in areas that are not protected. He also faulted the Ministry of Natural Resources for accepting the proposal for the mining.
“What is happening is contrary to international standards. As a committee, we will make recommendations, if it is a listening government they will take it from there. In most cases the government has been adamant and arrogant and they do not act on very strong recommendations of our standing orders. As a committee, we can only go as far as recommending,” Chilenga said.
According to Chilenga, the committee was aware of similar concerns raised by the communities around Mulanje Mountain, who oppose any attempts to conduct mining operations on the mountain.
In a separate interview, Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust Executive Director Carl Bruessow raised concerns over the planned mining, citing possible environmental damage and an impact on tourism.
He said Akatswiri has an exploration licence for Chambe basin and is seeking a mining licence for Lichenya basin for bauxite.
“With regards to the mining licence for Lichenya Plateau, they are seeking to carry out an environmental and social impact assessment in the near future. But in regard to Chambe the exploration licence was granted and access permit was issued, but only for social and economic assessments but no environmental impact assessment. It is not procedural according to EIA guidelines of Malawi,” said Bruessow.
He also noted the absence of the EIA as a major concern and said mining threatens one of the country’s major heritages.
“When you are talking of mining on an important mountain like Mulanje which is our highest mountain, our most beautiful mountain, and a mountain with completely global quality and also many species of endemic biodiversity, plants and animals are found on the mountain, hundreds of them not found anywhere in the world. We have a national responsibility to look after these,” added Bruessow.
Natural Resources Justice Network (NRJN), a consortium of civil society groups working in the mining and natural resources sector, warned that the process to award the exploration licences was lacking transparency and raising eyebrows.
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intentions has created room for speculation and suspicion
NRJN National Coordinator Kennedy Rashid said in a written response to Malawi News, that there is no evidence that an environmental impact assessment is being conducted to guide the process.
He said the lack of transparency over the government’s intentions has created room for speculation and suspicion.
“As a country, we want to create wealth urgently. Yes, it [wealth] is a need but it has to be found responsibly. We applaud and promote local investments. As NRJN, we want Malawi to have investments that promote all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, projects that respect and promote the fundamental human rights of the people of Malawi as enshrined in the constitution but no shortcuts should be used out of desperation for investments, let the law be the law,” Rashid said.
Mulanje Mountain is one of the top tourist destinations here in Malawi and Africa. Mineral assessment at the mountain took place in 1993 funded by the African Development Bank. In 2000, an impact assessment ruled that extraction at the mountain would cause a lot of distraction at the mountain.
Apart from that, Mulanje Mountain supplies water to Blantyre, Thyolo and Chiradzulu from Likhubula River.
An international mineral company was barred from extracting bauxite from the mountain in 2012 as a result of a court order that the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust secured.
In 2020, a local mining company showed interest in extracting bauxite from the mountain.
Apart from the Kayelekera Uranium mine in Karonga district, which has been in maintenance for a number of years, the country does not have major mining operations despite reported deposits of gold, bauxite, rare earth and other minerals.