{"id":79619,"date":"2025-06-26T15:49:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=79619"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:49:55","slug":"illegal-sand-miners-brought-to-book-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illegal-sand-miners-brought-to-book-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal sand miners brought to book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Six suspects were arrested for contravening the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act at Blaauwdrift Farm on the R30, near Theunissen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday 17 May the Vala uMgodi team carried out a planned disruptive operation to combat illegal mining activities. Acting on intelligence they swooped down on the farm and found three suspects aged 20, 31 and 32 busy mining sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A White FAW Star truck loaded with sand was confiscated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThree other suspects aged 34, 35 and 41 were also found mining sand in the same Blaauwdrift Farm vicinity. Another truck, White Mercedes Benz Tipper Lorry, and CAT Tractor Loader Backhoe were also confiscated,\u201d says Lt Col Thabo Covane , Corporate Communication and Liaison: Free State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Covane says a case of Contravention of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development of 2002, read with The Precious Metals of 2005, was then opened at Theunissen Police Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" data-attachment-id=\"264844\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illegal-sand-miners-brought-to-book-2\/blaauwdrift2_04172-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1-768x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-264844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BLAAUWDRIFT2_04172-1-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The excavations at Blaauwdrift Farm near R30 Road Theunissen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three other suspects aged 34, 35 and 41 were also found mining sand in the same Blaauwdrift Farm vicinity. Another truck, White Mercedes Benz Tipper Lorry, and CAT Tractor Loader Backhoe were also 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seized heavy duty earthmoving equipment.","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Marti","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Illegal sand miners brought to 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