e h T t c e P r ot t s a o C W est rson
Maste By Miles
Cape Town big wave surfer Mike Schlebach forms environmental NPO to fight beach mining on the Cape West Coast
T
he Cape West Coast. For most surfers, it conjures up visions of epic thick lipped barrels crashing onto shallow sandbars or kelp infested reefs in ice cold water, as the semi-desert scrub shimmers in the heat beyond. A pristine playground, wild and untouched. However, a significant threat to this rugged surfing nirvana has 40
emerged of late, one that may have repercussions on the ecology of a hauntingly beautiful part of our coast for decades to come: mining. Well-known Cape Town big wave charger Mike Schlebach discovered this the hard way on a recent surf trip. While diamond diving has long been a presence north of Hondeklipbaai, Mike learned that these operations, which mine for a range of valuable minerals in sandy areas including diamonds – but also rutile, ilmenite, zircon, and monazite etc – have spread much further south, towards the Olifants River, just up the coast from Elands Bay.
