1596 Motuoane Part II EA Amendment

Motuoane Energy (Pty) Ltd (Motuoane) (hereafter referred to as the applicant) has appointed Environmental Impact Management Services (Pty) Ltd (EIMS) as the Independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to assist with undertaking the required assessment and authorisation processes (including the statutory public participation), and to compile and submit the required documentation in support of application for: A Part 2 Amendment to the existing Environmental Authorisation (EA) in accordance with Regulation 31 of the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, 2014 as amended.

Motuoane is the holder of an exploration right (ER) for hydrocarbons, issued in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (Act 28 of 2002 – MPRDA, as amended). The originally approved exploration right is located over an area of approximately 149 377 hectares (ha), covering various farms near the town of Hennenman, within the Free State Province, extending north from approximately Theunissen, northeast towards Kroonstad, and east of Virginia and Hennenman. However, it must be noted that as holder of the ER, Motuoane were required to relinquish part of their land position when renewing the ER (twice now), the revised ER footprint currently covers an area of 95 483ha, over 50 000ha less than the initially approved area. An Environmental Authorisation in terms of the NEMA was issued to Motuoane for the exploration activities in July 2017 (ref: 12/3/315). The EA only made provision for three (3) drilling wells, and it did not include any seismic surveying. The applicant proposes to undertake an additional ten (10) new exploration boreholes, acquire ground based seismic surveys (~30km of new seismic transects) and update the Environmental Management Programme accordingly. An EA Amendment process has been initiated. The existing EA authorises the following listed activities: Listing Notice 1, Activity 27; Listing Notice 2, Activity 18; and Listing Notice 3, Activity 12.
All of the proposed additional activities fall within the existing approved Exploration Right area and EA extent. There will be no additional areas or petroleum resources added to the exploration right. Considering that the original EIA did not include the assessment of impacts associated with seismic surveys or the extent of the planned additional drilling wells, a Part 2 amendment process is required as stipulated in Regulation 31 of NEMA EIA Regulations, 2014 as amended.
The amendment study area can be subdivided into three sections namely, the far south, the south-central section and far north section. The far south and south-central sections are approximately 20km and 15km south of Virginia and can be accessed from the R73. The far north section is approximately 20km northeast of Welkom and can be accessed from the R34. The proposed seismic activities and majority of the proposed drilling wells (7 of 10) are concentrated within the south-central section with only one drilling activity proposed in the far south and two in the far north sections. Thirteen (13) farms and twenty-five (25) farm portions are directly affected by the proposed amendment as follows: Blijdschap Farm 218: Remaining Extent; Blomskraal Farm 216: Remaining Extent; Detente Farm 744: Remaining Extent, Ptn 1, Ptn 2 & Ptn 3; Erfenis Farm 328: Remaining Extent; Harmonia Farm 282: Remaining Extent; Kriegers Kraal Farm 708: Remaining Extent & Ptn 1; Le Roux Farm 717: Ptn 1; Le Roux Farm 766: Remaining Extent, Ptn 1 & Ptn 2; Nieuwjaarsbosch Farm 113: Remaining Extent; Nooitgedacht Farm 245: Remaining Extent & Ptn 1; Ongegund Farm 321: Remaining Extent & Ptn 1; Palmiet Fontein Farm 229: Remaining Extent, Ptn 1, Ptn 2 & Ptn 3; Siberiasfontein Farm 605: Remaining Extent & Ptn 1; and Eureka Farm 2101: Remaining Extent.
Province(s): Free State