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Thabazimbi Mining Project – HUMINT & OSINT Solutions
In Limpopo Province (South Africa), illegal mining is a challenge that impacts mining companies and local communities. Funds that can be utilised for community-based projects or social and labour plans, are often used by mining companies to combat the spread of illegal mining on their concessions.
Focus Group, contracted by a mining company in the area, provided a holistic solution to the problem of illegal mining, guided first-and-foremost through an intelligence-driven approach.
Illegal mining is motivated by a multitude of factors including high-level corruption, poor oversight, and innate human greed. Illegal mining does not exist in isolation, but rather in conjunction with a broad range of internal and external threats.
Widespread unemployment in mining-affected communities fosters criminality, resulting in community involvement in illegal mining as a means of earning an income. Illegal mining does not require qualifications or experience.
Local community leaders, such as kgosis (chiefs) and Communal Property Associations, co-opt initiatives designed to benefit communities. By absolving themselves of wrongdoing, the blame is unjustly shifted to mining companies.
Furthermore, the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is faced with an administrative backlog, which hinders effective oversight and allows illegal miners to exploit the DMRE’s blindside. Worse still, active incompetence exacerbates the issue and leads to poor problem-solving.
A tailormade intelligence approach was developed, allowing for data collection that focused specifically on the issue of illegal mining. Through a combination of human intelligence (HUMINT) and open-source intelligence (OSINT), a clearer picture of the threat could be created.
In so doing, actionable and effective operational planning could take place. Focus Group contracted security personnel to safeguard the concession, deterring potential illegal miners and apprehending trespassers. Through identifying key illegal mining sites, security was better able to respond to active illegal mining operations as well as better plan and execute patrols through critical locations.
The identification of role players and the technical capabilities of illegal miners allowed Focus Group to work directly with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI). Through effective collaboration, arrests were executed and equipment was confiscated. Furthermore, HUMINT allowed Focus Group to pick up the slack left by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMRE) and identify holders of fraudulent mining rights.
A Community Needs Assessment was conducted, whereby Focus Group met directly with local stakeholders and communities. Through a series of intimate and informal interviews, community issues and their sentiment towards local mining companies was better understood and disseminated. Likewise, Focus Group was able to shift community perception to reduce support for illegal mining.
Through dialogue, Focus Group engaged with the ‘ordinary person’ and not solely leadership. As a result, an associated Community Needs Assessment Report allowed for the creation of a social and labour plan that directly addresses community needs.
The threat of illegal mining requires a solid intelligence foundation to adequately understand and address. Through the collation of HUMINT and OSINT, and the subsequent processing and analysis of that intelligence, risks can be better mitigated and problems can be solved.