South Africa Plans Urgent Clean-Up Of Toxic Mine Liquid
Published by MAC on 2011-03-01Source: PlanetArk
Can the South African government avert potentially the worst environmental mining disaster in history?
Rising waters, mounting fears, flow from South Africa's mining legacy
According to recent reports, toxic liquids in abandoned underground gold mines have now reached a level between 500 meters to 700 meters below the surface of the city of Johannesburg and beyond.
Independent studies show the water is rising on average by about 15 meters a month.
So - in theory, and according to one expert: "If the pumps are in place by March 2012, we will protect th[e] environment" .
But that's a big "If" - especially should even more savage rains impact the region, as they did recently: See: Rains bring South African acid mine spillage closer
South Africa Plans Urgent Clean-Up Of Toxic Mine Liquid
By Jon Herskovitz
PlanetArk
23 February 2011
South Africa - South Africa plans to set up a chain of pumping stations and treatment plants to prevent toxic liquids building up in defunct gold mines beneath Johannesburg from reaching dangerous levels.
Immediate action is needed because acidic mine water is expected to reach environmentally critical levels under Johannesburg by June 2012, government officials and scientists told reporters Tuesday.
Water has already started leaking from abandoned mines west of Johannesburg in the so-called Western Basin.
"Work in the Western Basin is immediate," Thibedi Ramontja, chief executive officer of the Council for Geoscience, said after the briefing.
The dangerous cocktail of chemicals has been building up in mine shafts dug more than a century ago to tap one of the world's largest gold deposits and stretching scores of kilometers under Johannesburg.
Water accumulating in shafts and tunnels has been reacting with rocks formed about 2.8 billion years ago and triggering chemical reactions that produced sulphuric acid, heavy metals, toxins and radiation.
The government commissioned a team of experts to investigate the problem and will release its findings Thursday.
"If the pumps are in place by March 2012, we will protect that environment-critical level," Henk Coetzee, one of the experts, told the briefing, referring to Johannesburg.
Acid mine drainage has plagued derelict mines globally for decades but most of the damage has been in remote areas.
The problem for Johannesburg is that the city was built over its gold mines and the land that will be affected is occupied by some of the country's biggest firms and some of its most densely packed townships and suburbs.
The toxic liquid is now about 500 meters below the surface in the Central Basin under Johannesburg and about 700 meters below the surface in the Eastern Basin, water ministry officials said.
Independent studies show the water is rising on average by about 15 meters a month.
The government plans to set up a series of pumping stations and water treatment facilities across the country to prevent the water from harming a key center of Africa's largest economy, Planning Minister Trevor Manuel told the briefing.
"My understanding is that there is no one magical pump. There is a series of pumping activities that you need to do. You are talking of a distance of 200 kilometers (120 miles)," said Manuel, a former finance minister.
Manuel said the government had been talking to mining firms about funding the project but would not estimate the cost of the clean-up. Many of the original mining firms closed or were taken over decades ago.
South Africa To Spend $168 Million On Gold Mine Cleanup
By Jon Herskovitz
PlanetArk
25 February 2011
South Africa - South Africa will spend an estimated 1.2 billion rand ($168.1 million) to clean up acidic water threatening to spill out from abandoned gold mines under Johannesburg and adjacent areas, a report said Thursday.
The dangerous cocktail of chemicals has been building up in mine shafts dug more than a century ago to tap one of the world's largest gold deposits and stretches scores of kilometers under Johannesburg.
"The problems posed by acid mine drainage will have implications far into the future, with impacts likely to continue for many years," said a report by a team of experts released by the water ministry Thursday.
The report recommends building a series of pumping, treatment and monitoring stations starting immediately with pumps in place under Johannesburg by March 2012, just months before the acid water is expected to reach environmentally critical levels.
The budget is estimated at 441.7 million rand for capital expenditure, 121.2 million for annual operating cost and 626.3 million for long-term costs related to preventing water from flowing into the cavities, the water ministry said.
Acid mine water has plagued derelict mines globally for decades but most of the damage has been in remote areas.
The problem for Johannesburg is that the city was built over its gold mines and the land that could be affected is occupied by some of the country's biggest firms and its most densely packed townships and suburbs.
The toxic liquid has already been flowing out of mines to the west of the city from what is known as the Western Basin.
Acid mine water is now about 500 meters below the surface in the Central Basin under Johannesburg, rising on average of 59 centimeters (23 inches) a day, and about 700 meters below the surface in the Eastern Basin, the report said.
Water accumulating in shafts and tunnels has been reacting with rocks formed about 2.8 billion years ago and triggering chemical reactions that produced sulfuric acid, heavy metals, toxins and radiation.
(Editing by Myra MacDonald)