ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENTS

In 2013, Sibanye reported only one significant environmental incident, compared to one such incident in 2012. This was due to the maintenance programme incorporated into the Engineering Pragma System. The decline in Level 3 incidents can be attributed to the maintenance programme incorporated into the Engineering Pragma Management System.

This includes timeous reporting and maintenance of pipeline failure incidents, conducting thickness testing on the pipeline, installation of flow meters and daily inspection of pipes by pipe-walkers. Through these processes, pipes are identified to be either rotated or replaced ahead of failure, thereby preventing or reducing the extent of the incident.

Significant incidents are defined as follows:

  • Level 3 – incidents that result in ongoing but limited environmental impact.
  • Level 4 – incidents that result in medium-term environmental impact.
  • Level 5 – incidents that result in long-term environmental impact.

Of Sibanye’s environmental incidents, one incident was a Level 3 incident (the rest were classified as Level 1/ Level 2 incidents). As such, there were no Level 4 or Level 5 incidents. The single significant environmental incident (Level 3) related to a slimes spillage at the Driefontein Operation.

Significant incident report

Date
17 September 2013
Level
Level 3
Operation
Driefontein
Description
Pipeline No 61 to the No 1 tailings storage facility (TSF) burst behind Pomolong Village
Volume
Approximately 4,500m³
Material
Waste: Tailings slurry from the gold plant metallurgical process. Tailings contain harmful sulphate and uranium.
Impact
Uncontrolled discharge of tailings caused degradation of soil and water quality. Tailings spills have potential to impact on the quality of surface water and groundwater, as well as soil.
Remediation
undertaken
As an emergency measure, the affected pipe segment was temporarily clamped to minimise further spillage from the pipe segment. The spill was allowed to dry in order to facilitate the clean-up process. The incident was reported to the DWA and the DMR. The Sustainable Development Department has investigated the incident, and the investigation report was submitted to the DWA on 26 September 2013 as per the water use licence (WUL) condition.