Environmentalists challenge mining plans in West Coast National Park

PLANS to mine a phosphate deposit within the borders of the West Coast National Park have triggered yet another legal battle by environmentalists who say the move raises the stakes high, especially with the promise of further land swaps.

- NICOLA DANIELS

At the centre of the controversy is Kropz Plc, a phosphate mining company with an operation at Elandsfontein on the West Coast.

It is inching ever closer to the boundary of the West Coast National Park, a move opposed by the environmental conservation organisation, World Wide Fund (WWF).

Concerned about the potential long-term damage to the area's irreplaceable biodiversity, WWF has since taken the battle to court in an effort to halt the company’s plans to mine a phosphate deposit within the borders of the West Coast National Park.

"The mining company wrote to SANParks in September last year to open negotiations, and have now formally applied, on 14 March 2025, for a portion of phosphate-bearing land to be excluded from the park to allow it to mine in the area.

"This is a rather audacious application seeking an unprecedented decision to allow mining inside a formally declared national park.

"This move comes as legal action is already playing out over the company's failure to implement earlier offset conditions imposed on it in 2015 to mitigate damage done through its opencast mine operation.

"The land the company is now eyeing lies close to its existing operation at the Elandsfontein mine on the West Coast within the borders of the West Coast National Park," said WWF.