What to do with bulk ports

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.