The current lime treatment of the uncontrolled AMD has resulted in the deposition of sludge in the first receptor dam within the Tweelopiespruit, part of the Crocodile River System and Limpopo Catchment. This dam, the Hippo Dam, is outside mine property, located within the Krugersdorp Game Reserve. The sludge contains toxic and radioactive heavy metals.
Tweelopiespruit flowing downstream of Hippo Dam, 8 May 2010 (photo Alistair Clacherty)
The photographs were taken on 8 May 2010. The iron in the water gives it the orange-red colour.
The Tweelopiespruit, flowing under the road (R24) from the Rand Uranium property and into the Krugersdorp Game Reserve. (Photo Alistair Clacherty)
On 8 May 2010, the water sample taken from this part of the Tweelopiespruit had a pH of 2 as acidic as lemon juice! In contrast, a stream a few km away with frogs and signs of a visiting otter, had a pH of 6.5.
Reading of pH2, water sample from Tweelopiespruit near R24, 8 May 2010 No dissolved oxygen in water sample from Hippo Dam, 8 May 2010 (Note the red is the rubber bung in tube) (Photos: Alistair Clacherty)
Downstream of Hippo Dam, the water flowing out of the Aviary Dam was pH2. An indication that the treatment process is not working. (Photo: Alistair Clacherty)
Crust that formed in the Tweelopiespruit