What to do with a bulk port after the mines it serves have been depleted is an interesting aside in the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) Port Development Framework Plans. In the section on Richards Bay the report’s authors state: “It is possible that some bulk products may run out (eg, coal reserves in South Africa appear to be limited) and diversification may be required in the long term”. With the Sishen iron ore mine expected to be depleted in the next 20 years the authorities have started looking at the future of Saldanha Bay, which was opened as an iron ore terminal in 1976. There are historic precedents in South Africa from which to learn. Nearly 700 kilometres up the west coast from Saldanha Bay is Port Nolloth, which essentially shut down after the Cape Copper Company ceased operating in 1919.
