It was foreseen that there would be challenges with the current short term treatment of AMD within the Western, Eastern and Central Basins. The Department of Environmental Affairs granted exemption for the construction and operation of the High Density Sludge Plants in the Western, Eastern and Central Basins and the discharge of neutralised AMD (in […]
Western Basin AMD Plant Significantly Affected by Recent Heavy Rains
Hope springs (not) eternal in spat over toxic sludge
by Zwanga Mukhuthu of M&G Fears that a facility to treat acid mine drainage could contaminate plants, animals and people. Government is forging ahead with a R1-billion project for the treatment of acid mine drainage in Ekurhuleni – despite a fierce backlash by residents and environmental experts over the millions of cubic metres of toxic, and possibly […]
Gold group lambasted
An environmental and civil rights group has implicated a West Rand-based gold mining company in several alleged contraventions of environmental legislation.
Tackling Acid Mine Drainage in a big way
A mammoth new plant is nearly ready to treat toxic water. A hundred tons of lime a day and a ” hell of a lot” of electricity. This is some of what it will take to power the biggest acid mine drainage (AMD) plant of its kind in South Africa and the continent.
Water taints life in Cradle
CHANTAL Whiller and her husband did their homework before they moved their family to an upmarket country estate at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.Whiller’s husband, who worked on the mines in Welkom, had heard about the toxic and potentially radioactive acid mine drainage (AMD) seeping into the Cradle from the Witwatersrand’s abandoned goldfields.“He […]
FSE:Comment on DWA AMD Solution
The FSE is of the firm opinion that many persons and companies want to financially profit from the current situation. This is resulting in failure to holistically identify and manage the AMD impacts and challenges. The reason might partly be that the situation is a political problem as well.
Johannesburg: who pays for a century of mining?
BY MARTIN PLAUT BY MARTIN PLAUT Johannesburg – the city of gold – is facing a pollution crisis that could threaten its very existence. South African officials report that in late 2013 the water on which the city depends will become contaminated, unless immediate measures are taken. It is a threat, warned Professor Terence S. […]
Saving Joburg from the poison flood
A decade. That’s how long Mariette Liefferink has known about the radioactive water under Johannesburg and its neighbouring mining towns – and how long she has been lobbying to have something done about it.
Joburg’s acid mine drainage: Swapping sludge for salt
More than two years since government started to care about acid mine drainage, it has been working with key stakeholders to address the ugly sludge of an issue. The response, however, has only scratched the surface while creating other problems, such as putting the river systems at enormous risk. Though the issue might be water […]