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Turning pit into pasture

A herd of zebra grazes off the lush green savannah, while nearby a new-born blue wildebeest takes its first hesitant steps under the watchful gaze of his mother. A kingfisher perches on the branch of a swaying tree at the water's edge, while a teal noisily takes flight, disturbing the siesta of a monitor dozing on a rock. Amazingly this panorama exists not in South Africa's Kruger Park, but in Anglo Thermal Coal's New Vaal colliery's Biodiversity Park, an ongoing rehabilitation programme that will continue long after mining.

Progress in the rehabilitation process at the colliery has gained considerable momentum over the last two years, and in 2008 a record amount of ground was levelled. The mine has put a great deal of effort into developing its rehabilitation staff, especially in areas like optimising the use of dozers.

The importance New Vaal colliery places on rehabilitation is evidenced by the resources it allocates to this vital task. Fifty-seven people are dedicated to this function, and are equipped with six dozers, two sand shovels, six flat-backed trucks, three tractors and other agricultural equipment.

An equally important responsibility is the preparation of land that is about to be mined. Animals may have to be gently driven off the land into safe areas or lured with the aid of salt licks, while the presence of vulnerable or sensitive plant species is noted so that they can be reintroduced in the subsequent rehabilitation phase.

The biodiversity park is continually growing, and will soon be taking up an area of over 1,000ha with an increasing amount of wildlife. Species already present include impala, springbok, zebra, red hartebeest, blue and black wildebeest, eland and duiker. The birdlife is prolific, and includes darters, cormorants, greater and lesser flamingo, red kestrels and there has been a recent sighting of a giant kingfisher.

New Vaal believes that conservation is the ideal building block for the creation of sustainability, as it attracts tourism, aids job creation, promotes environmental awareness, facilitates outreach programmes and conserves our natural heritage.

The mine's vision for the future is that as the park grows in size it will be used to promote educational and recreational activities. The introduction of game drives, the establishment of hiking trails and 4x4 routes are ideas that could be seriously considered. As the park grows it will be able to support larger game, including white rhino.