Mining firms urged to take steps to conserve environment

Kwale, Thursday, April 27, 2023

KNA by Hussein Abdullahi

State Department for Environment and Climate Change Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno has called on mining firms to preserve the environment through responsible mining.

Engineer Ng’eno challenged mining companies to inculcate environmental restoration as a key plank of their operations for the sake of planet earth.

PS Ng’eno said large-scale extractive operations are environmentally destructive activities that could potentially be offset through proper environmental management and ecosystem restoration.

He said the mining industry causes some of the most dramatic impacts on the natural environment and human health.

The PS was speaking to the media while on a tour of the Base Titanium Kwale Mine Site where he led staff and communities around the mine site in a tree planting exercise where 500 trees were planted at the South Dune mined out areas.

Base Titanium owns and manages Kwale Operation, a high grade mineral sands mine, located in Msambweni sub county of Kwale.

The leaders were on a familiarisation visit to understand and have a glimpse of Base Titanium’s World Class Mining Operations including its rehabilitation and ecological restoration on mined-out land.

Base Titanium that commenced production in 2013 operates on the South Coast of Kenya extracting minerals mainly ilmenite, rutile and zircon and is accredited as a vision 2030 flagship mining project.

Engineer Ng’eno who was accompanied by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) Director-General Mamo Boru said he was impressed that the Kwale based Australian mining firm has adopted eco-friendly mining methods.

According to the PS the mining company has carried out the mining land preservation measures quite well so it could protect the environment against destruction.

The PS who has expressed appreciation for environmental preservation carried out by Base Titanium says the major potential environmental impact associated with mining are related to erosion-prone landscapes, soil and water quality, and air quality.

He cited Base Titanium as a mining firm that has invested a lot towards mitigating environmental impacts of its activities and restoring the ecosystem to the condition in which it was prior to the mining operation.

The environmental PS urged other mining companies to emulate the Base Titanium model which shows a practical example on how best to reclaim and restore degraded mined out sites.

Eng Ng’eno said he was impressed by the environmental management system that restores mine out sites including rehabilitation of the soil, restoration of water sources and reintroduction of indigenous vegetation as well as carrying out conservation agriculture.

“Redressing land degradation through integrated landscape management is a national government priority in degraded post-mined lands,” said PS Ng’eno.

Base Titanium General Manager (GM) External Affairs Manager Simon Wall said they are preserving the environment through responsible and sustainable mining.

“As the largest mining company in Kenya we are determined to make good on our promise to protect the environment as we extract precious minerals,” he said

He went on ‘Base Titanium is committed to operating in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner’.

Mr Wall, who is the man leading the environmental sustainability activities of the mining firm, says they are scaling up rehabilitation and ecological restoration of areas disturbed by mining activities to a condition that is safe, stable and non-polluting.

He said Base Titanium has a comprehensive environmental management plan in place which indicates activities and control measures that have to be implemented to avoid or minimize environmental impact throughout the mines’ life span.

Mr Wall noted that sustainable conservation, rehabilitation and ecological restoration programs are now focused on the mined-out areas of the South and Central Dunes.

“Base Titanium is committed to minimising environmental impacts, while protecting and conserving biodiversity and driving environmentally responsible behaviour in our operation, and in our communities’ he said.

ENDS/