Thursday, February 24, 2011
Read all about it
To view the "Report to the Interministerial Committee on Mine Water Management in the Wits Goldfields, with special emphasis on AMD", please click on the "Scientific Reports" tab above, or visit http://www.dwaf.gov.za/
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Hang on to those gumboots...
Do not panic about acid mine water, says Manuel
Feb 22, 2011 11:19 PM | By THABO MOKONEThe state aims to make mine groups pay the high costs of eliminating the environmental threat posed by acid mine water drainage on the Witwatersrand.
Photograph by: MARIANNE SCHANKHART
'You will throw away your gum boots and relax'
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Manuel said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would allocate money in the Budget today for pumps, pipelines and treatment works to eliminate acid mine water in a 200km mine network.
He declined to say how expensive the operation would be, but said costs of purifying acid mine water would be recovered from mining groups.
"We will try to reclaim maximally from the profit-making mines that which we can reclaim and understand that we have a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of water systems, river systems, etc, so that South Africans could know that this matter is being dealt with," said Manuel.
He called for calm, saying the government had the issue under control. Scientists assembled by the government had presented concrete measures on how to deal with the threat.
The cabinet had endorsed the measures and the Department of Water Affairs and Mineral Resources would oversee implementation. Manuel said the full report would be released to the public tomorrow.
"There is no catastrophe. I think that once you read the report on Thursday you will have the same kind of reassurance. You will throw away your gumboots and relax with us because we are dealing with this matter. The science is exceptionally good on this matter and there is actually no cause for panic about it.
"I want to repeat that there is no cause to panic about it."
Acid mine water is said to be as acid as strong vinegar. The legacy of 120 years of gold mining, it is found when old shafts and tunnels fill up. Water oxidises with the sulphide mineral iron pyrite, or fool's gold. The water fills the mine and overflows into the environment.
Water affairs official Marius Keet said the were no immediate risks in the Witwatersrand's three geological basins. There were no risks in the eastern basin under the town of Nigel, as the water was 700m deep, or immediate problems in Johannesburg's central basin as the water was 500m deep.
Keet said the immediate risk was in the western basin, under Krugersdorp and Randfontein, where acid mine water had been decanting since 2002.
Acting water affairs director-general Trevor Balzer said new pump stations would be operational by March next year for central Johannesburg as acid water was rising 60cm-90cm a day depending on rain.
Cabinet spokesman Jimmy Manyi said the government was investigating an environmental levy on mining companies
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Pravin Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan expected to outline costs related to AMD on Wed 23 Feb
Environmentalists, NGOs and ordinary South Africans will know tomorow how much government has allocated to the problem of AMD in the Wits basin when Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivers his Budget speech. IInitial estimations were that government may need up to R218 million for a new pump station and pipeline, and to upgrade existing waterworks. But at a press briefing today (Tuesday), National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel said it was premature to determine exactly how much it would cost to address the crisis considering that a lot of work needed to be done in the next three years across the affected areas. He maintains his earlier stance that there is no need for panic or alarm.
Budget to tackle mine acid
Article By: Paul Vecchiatto
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:58
The cost to clear up the acid mine drainage in the areas around Johannesburg will be released in Wednesday's national Budget by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Cabinet was also considering an environmental levy for such cases.
Minister in the Presidency for National Planning Trevor Manuel said this at a post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, when he also indicated that the long-awaited report would be released on the Department of Water Affairs' website on Thursday.
Manuel, who was accompanied by Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant, emphasised that there was no need to panic and that plans were well underway to contain and eliminate the acid water that has been seeping to the surface from operational and disused mines.
Acid mine water drainage affects three geological basins on the Witwatersrand - the hub of SA's gold mining sector.
Manuel and experts said there was no immediate threat from either the Eastern or Central Basins as the water was 700 metres and 500 metres respectively below the surface. However, the Western Basin was showing signs of risk and this was where pumping of water and its neutralisation would begin.
In the briefing notes, Cabinet noted that the team of experts on the inter-ministerial committee made the following recommendations: implementing ingress control measures to reduce the rate of flooding and the eventual decanting and pumping volume; reducing costs to deal with acid mine drainage; improving water quality management; removal of salt loads from river systems to be considered in the medium to long term; improving monitoring and undertaking research to inform decision making and managing and monitoring other acid mine drainage sources within the Witwatersrand Basin.
Manuel said the issue of an environmental levy was a complex one as in some cases the mines were already treating water.
Cabinet was also considering an environmental levy for such cases.
Minister in the Presidency for National Planning Trevor Manuel said this at a post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, when he also indicated that the long-awaited report would be released on the Department of Water Affairs' website on Thursday.
Manuel, who was accompanied by Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant, emphasised that there was no need to panic and that plans were well underway to contain and eliminate the acid water that has been seeping to the surface from operational and disused mines.
Acid mine water drainage affects three geological basins on the Witwatersrand - the hub of SA's gold mining sector.
Manuel and experts said there was no immediate threat from either the Eastern or Central Basins as the water was 700 metres and 500 metres respectively below the surface. However, the Western Basin was showing signs of risk and this was where pumping of water and its neutralisation would begin.
In the briefing notes, Cabinet noted that the team of experts on the inter-ministerial committee made the following recommendations: implementing ingress control measures to reduce the rate of flooding and the eventual decanting and pumping volume; reducing costs to deal with acid mine drainage; improving water quality management; removal of salt loads from river systems to be considered in the medium to long term; improving monitoring and undertaking research to inform decision making and managing and monitoring other acid mine drainage sources within the Witwatersrand Basin.
Manuel said the issue of an environmental levy was a complex one as in some cases the mines were already treating water.
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