1. The Department has been informed of the unfortunate incident. Preliminary investigations shows that the area where the incident happened falls outside coordinates of any Licensed mine. The Mining company in the vicinity decided to assist on purely humanitarian grounds and this assistance has also been acknowledged by the child’s family. The Department remains seizes with this matter to prevent the occurrence of such an incidence from happening again.
2. The Department has the database of mines that need rehabilitation. These are legacy mines that have been abandoned by the previous mine owners prior to the introduction of the Minerals Act (1991) and Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA, 2002). To this end, the department has prioritized the rehabilitation of these Derelict and Ownerless (D&O) mines.