The Save Mapungubwe Coalition, known as the Coalition, has parted ways with the Australian mining company CoAL of Africa Limited (CoAL) this week.

The environmental coalition, comprised of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Wilderness Foundation South Africa, and the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa, the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists, the Mapungubwe Action Group and BirdLife South Africa, made this announcement public on Friday, 7 December.

The Coalition and CoAL originally signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning the proposed Vele mine on 24 November 2011. This was, in the words of the Coalition, to achieve best practice “through negotiation rather than litigation."

The MoU would have seen both parties working together in the interest of sustainable development and the preservation of protection of not only the environment, but also the Mapungubwe cultural landscape. Originally, the MoU would have been guided, through negotiations, towards a memorandum of agreement between the parties. The Vele mine is situated about six kilometres from the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site.

Shortly before entering into the MoU, the coalition was proceeding with legal action and taking CoAL to court to try and set aside the mining approvals granted for the Vele colliery by the Department of Minerals and Energy.

In their public statement, the coalition says that additional information came to light “about past and on-going non-compliance with water legislation” at Vele. They also state that there are now, after nine months of negotiations, existing detrimental impacts that require remediation.

“It appears that, when it commenced with mining, CoAL did not have all the authorisations it required for certain water-use activities associated with its mining operations, and still does not have such authorisations,” the Coalition says in its statement.

Carolyn Ah Shene-Verdoorn from BirdLife South Africa told the Zoutpansberger on Monday that water usage remains an issue and that they left the negotiation table as a result of the fact that CoAL does not have the proper licenses for all their water uses at the mine. “We can back up all our claims,” she said.

CoAL, who is in the process of developing the first phase of Vele with the aim of producing 2.7million tons run-of-mine coal a year, has confirmed the termination of the MoU.

CoAL claims that the basis on which the Coalition withdrew from the MoU is inaccurate. They also say that they held valid regulatory licenses and permits, including an integrated water use license. CoAL adds that the Coalition has not been to the Vele mine site to date, despite numerous invitations from them.

“We are compliant with environmental requirements for the mine [Vele],” CoAL said on Monday.

In the meantime, the Coalition will not recommence with its legal action against CoAL at this stage. Shene-Verdoorn explained that the different stakeholders within the Coalition have yet to decide on the matter. The coalition, she said, will focus on more coherent decision making within in the different government departments that are responsible for issuing licenses to mining companies.