JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has given the department a further 14 days to run final tests before the implementation of a new online prospecting and mining rights application system.

The Department of Mineral Resources said in February it would launch the online mineral rights application system at the end of March.

In terms of the new system, the public will submit applications electronically through the DMR website, and these applications will be automatically routed to the relevant region.

“After having been presented with the latest picture in so far as the new system is concerned, I have accordingly instructed my officials to go back and re-run final tests with regard to the new system for a further 14 days. This is being done in a bid to ensure that there is smooth implementation of the new system once the moratorium is lifted,” Shabangu said in a statement.

She said that the moratorium on new prospecting rights applications would be extended accordingly. The moratorium would have been lifted in all provinces, except Mpumalanga, on Thursday.

The Minister had previously indicated that the moratorium would be lifted on March 1, but last month extended it to March 31.

The moratorium on new mining rights applications was imposed in September last year to complete an audit of licences granted since the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act was promulgated in April 2009.