Ascon Africa was commissioned by Ruschrome Mining to undertake an Environmental Impact Study for the mining of the Darwendale trial open pit. The purpose of the EIA was to identify potential environmental and social impacts arising from the project as well as their effective management to maximise benefits to the local communities and maintain sustainable use of natural resources.

Impacts Identification
The significant environmental and social impacts included:
• Disturbance to cultural heritage sites
• Visual impacts arising from mineral extraction and creation of waste dumps.
• Erosion
• Changes to hydrology and drainage networks

In order to ensure that environmental factors are considered during the implementation of this project an Environmental Management Programme was proposed under this.