Hang on to those gumboots...

Do not panic about acid mine water, says Manuel

Feb 22, 2011 11:19 PM | By THABO MOKONE

The state aims to make mine groups pay the high costs of eliminating the environmental threat posed by acid mine water drainage on the Witwatersrand.

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Photograph by: MARIANNE SCHANKHART

'You will throw away your gum boots and relax'

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After yesterday's cabinet meeting in Cape Town, Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel told reporters the government was discussing costs with mining companies. The government was pushing for the cheapest possible option, as recommended by its team of experts.
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

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