Other initia tiv es T he Miner als C ouncil c ontinued t o articula t e the mining indus try position on the management of legacies a t v arious go v ernment and other s tructur es f ormed t o deal with en vir onmental legac y is sues in the mining indus try T hese will as sis t with the implementa tion of short medium and longt erm solutions T he W onderf ont einspruit F orum w as es tablished t o monit or and dir ect activities of k e y r ole pla y ers oper a ting in the W es t W its basin t o addr es s his t oric and curr ent w a t er management is sues in the ca t chment T hr oughout 20 19 acid mine dr ainage AMD le v els and w a t er quality w er e monit or ed T he monit oring r esults and c omplianc e with w a t er use c onditions w as r eport ed on and discus sed a t this f orum t o agr ee on the w a y f orw ar d t o r educ e the impacts T he Miner als C ouncil activ ely participa t es in the f orum as w ell as in the S ta t e C oor dina ting T echnical C ommitt ee which w as es tablished t o mak e r ec ommenda tions f or implementa tion t o the Dir ect or Gener al T he En vir onmental Impact As ses sment pr oc es s f or the long t erm solution f or AMD had been put on hold and a pr oc es s is underw a y t o in v es tiga t e other mor e af or dable tr ea tment t echnology options T he Miner als C ouncil is closely monit oring this pr oc es s T he Miner als C ouncil also pla y ed a leadership r ole in c on v ening the Mine W a t er C oor dina tion Body MW CB which is a s tructur e f ormed b y the curr ent oper a tional mines t o cr ea t e a positiv e legac y f or the c oal mining indus try T he MW CB w as es tablished as a publicpriv a t e pla tf orm f or the mining indus try and go v ernment t o w ork t ogether in identifying and implementing management options f or w a t er and closur e f or the Mpumalanga c oalfelds in an a tt empt t o a v oid legac y is sues T o da t e the MW CB has a ttr act ed Anglo C oal Esk om Exx ar o Glenc or e Sasol and South32 as priv a t e sect or partners and is w orking closely with the Department of W a t er and Sanita tion D W S and the DMRE the k e y go v ernment bodies go v erning the mining sect or T he MW CB is also engaging with other go v ernment departments t o a ttr act additional public sect or support f or their pr ojects and initia tiv es In 20 19 the MW CB pr ojects implement ed included the Mine W a t er f or Irriga tion pr oject the Gr een Engine pr oject and the R egional P os tclosur e E c onomic S tudy f or the C oalfelds Mine W a t er f or Irriga tion pr oject is a r esear ch s tudy t o in v es tiga t e the use of saline w a t er tha t meets agricultur al quality s tandar ds in irriga ting saline r esis tant cr ops such as whea t and so y a T he s tudy will e xt end o v er a t otal of 60 hectar es of both r ehabilita t ed pits and nearb y unmined land and will tak e plac e o v er fv e y ears t o as ses s the longer t erm impact of irriga tion on the local gr oundw a t er quality Gr een Engine pr oject will change the w a y mine closur e is vie w ed It is aimed a t demons tr a ting the viability of a land s t e w ar dship model int egr a ting mineo wned land r ene w able ener gy and tr ea t ed mined w a t er in or der t o de v elop v arious busines s opportunities tha t will beneft local c ommunities R egional P os tclosur e E c onomic S tudy f or the C oalfields Bef or e r egional closur e can be suc c es sfully planned and implement ed it is important t o unders tand wha t the pot ential ec onomic opportunities f or the r egion e xis t T his s tudy will in v es tiga t e these opportunities r esear ch implementing partners as w ell as ensur e tha t go v ernment planning a t na tional pr o vincial and local le v els is int egr a t ed in the closur e planning pr oc es s Engagement with the Department of W a t er and Sanita tion D W S T he Miner als C ouncil engaged with the D W S t o c onsider viable options f or the mining indus try t o c ontribut e t o positiv e legacies as w ell as t o addr es s the indus try s c onc erns t o the intr oduction of the en vir onmental mining le v y f or AMD T he Miner als C ouncil has managed t o persuade the D W S t o def er the implementa tion of the le v y and carry out further r esear ch on the subject A dditional engagement t opics with both the DMRE and the D W S during 20 19 included partnership with curr ent oper a tional mines c onsider ed as the mining indus try s c ontribution t o legacies Anglo American C oal Zibulo P age 5 7 MINERALS C OUNCIL SOUTH AFRICA INTEGRA TED ANNU AL REVIEW 20 19