In past dump reclamation activities, a number of cases have been identified where the re-mining of dumps were not completed, either due to a lack of funding on the part of the miner or due to the heterogeneity in the dumps which were mined. Any new application to exploit mining residues should only be approved if it involves the removal of an entire residue deposit and the rehabilitation of the remaining footprint. If this is not the case, rather than consolidating contaminated sites, the reprocessing activities result in the creation of two contaminated sites, where one previously existed.
Radiometric surveys over previously reprocessed mine residue deposit footprints have, in some cases, shown elevated levels of residual radioactivity in the soils. In these cases, it must be accepted that some areas will never be suitable for unrestricted development and that these areas will need to be demarcated as such, and appropriate land-uses proposed and implemented.
Read the full submission:Â PRELIMINARY COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED GOLDFIELDS – WEST WITS PROJECT DEAT REFERENCE NUMBER 12/12/20/150 (about 290kb)