{"id":4979,"date":"2025-05-30T11:18:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hconline.co.za\/?p=4979"},"modified":"2025-07-22T20:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T20:51:19","slug":"high-court-grants-liberty-coal-right-to-access-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/high-court-grants-liberty-coal-right-to-access-land\/","title":{"rendered":"High court grants Liberty Coal right to access land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>MIDDELBURG \u2013<\/strong> The Mpumalanga High Court has granted Optimum Colliery, now operating as Liberty Coal, the right to continue mining on a farm in Middelburg, following a legal dispute with the landowner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Middelburg sitting of the High Court ruled on Friday, May 16, 2025, that the owner of Bosmanspruit farm had not acted in good faith in Liberty Coal\u2019s attempts to reach a fair and swift compensation agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In April, Liberty Coal approached the court on an urgent basis after several months of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter amicably with the landowner. The dispute began in November last year when the landowner barred the mine from accessing the property until compensation talks were concluded, including for potential crop losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon Cass, the sole director of Bosmanspruit, argued that mining operations would lead to losses amounting to nearly half a million rand in farming costs and crops, equivalent to his annual net profit. He further estimated losses of close to R19 million if mining proceeded before the finalisation of compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court has now granted Liberty Coal access to the property and issued an interdict against Bosmanspruit, its employees, and any representatives from interfering with the mine\u2019s operations. It also ordered the landowner to pay the legal costs of the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Liberty Coal\u2019s acting CEO, Hlayiseka Chauke, welcomed the ruling, saying it affirms the mine\u2019s legal right to access and operate on the land it holds mining rights for within the Optimum Colliery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis judgement confirms that our sustained efforts over the past six years to rescue and restore Optimum Colliery are indeed justified,\u201d Chauke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that despite the company\u2019s best efforts to negotiate fairly, the landowner&#8217;s constantly shifting demands left them with no choice but to seek relief from the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs a responsible corporate citizen, Liberty Coal values constructive and fair relations with regulatory authorities and all stakeholders affected by our work. We remain committed to restoring Optimum Colliery as one of the country\u2019s leading coal mines,\u201d Chauke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He further noted that the company\u2019s ongoing infrastructure refurbishment and plans to redevelop rehabilitated areas for agricultural use would continue creating job and business opportunities for nearby communities, local entrepreneurs, and landowners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIDDELBURG \u2013 The Mpumalanga High Court has granted Optimum Colliery, now operating as Liberty Coal, the right to continue mining on a farm in Middelburg, following a legal dispute with the landowner. The Middelburg sitting of the High Court ruled on Friday, May 16, 2025, that the owner of Bosmanspruit farm had not acted in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-tie-news-style"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>High court grants Liberty Coal right to access land - Highveld Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/high-court-grants-liberty-coal-right-to-access-land\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High court grants Liberty Coal right to access land - Highveld Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MIDDELBURG \u2013 The Mpumalanga High Court has granted Optimum Colliery, now operating as Liberty Coal, the right to continue mining on a farm in Middelburg, following a legal dispute with the landowner. 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