MINING (164)
Spectre of Marikana as 'war' erupts at Blyvoor
Wednesday, 16 September 2015 06:03A standoff between guards and illegal miners at one of South Africa's biggest gold mines this week erupted in a mini war, prompting fears of another Marikana.
Booby Jordan reports for Sunday Times
Environment Departments admit to acid water slip-up
Friday, 28 August 2015 21:51There are no environmental checks on Gauteng's emergency response to the mine drainage crisis, as polluted water seeps into rivers and land.
Midalore left to choke on toxic dust
Tuesday, 07 April 2015 16:46Residents long for wind of change, but all they get is illness every time a hazardous cocktail blows into town.
Trapped in a nightmare of hazardous dust
Thursday, 06 November 2014 19:48Residents on edge as miner mulls reopening pit
Uranium - Past and Future Challenges
Wednesday, 08 October 2014 08:24FSE’s Report on the Technische Universitat Bergakademie Freiberg Conference (programme) and the FSE’s Paper and Presentation on “Current Reclamation Of Historical Uraniferous Tailings Dams And Sand Dumps – Exacerbating The Mess Or Minimizing The Mining Footprint? Case Studies Within The Witwatersrand”.
Johannesburg succumbs to sci-fi sinkholes
Sunday, 28 September 2014 06:21The ground shudders and heaves, then slowly rips apart, pulling whatever is nearby — houses, trees, cars, factories — into a newly-formed, gaping hole.
It sounds like a scene from a science fiction film, but over the last several decades, this scenario has played out thousands of times — entirely unscripted — near South Africa’s largest city.
Top Star: Jo'burg's real-estate wasteland
Wednesday, 30 July 2014 07:04The city's landmark Top Star Drive-in site is a shadow of its former self, after the mine dump it perched atop was levelled and re-mined for gold.
An aerial view of the old Top Star Drive-in in Johannesburg.
Hope springs (not) eternal in spat over toxic sludge
Tuesday, 24 June 2014 11:36by 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 radioactive, sludge the project will churn out.
Illegal Mining in South Africa Prompts Government Crackdown
Saturday, 17 August 2013 23:48The 19th century gold rush that built Johannesburg left many abandoned mines in the city that still lure hundreds of people every day who enter them illegally searching for what little gold that remains.
Five-year plan launched to treat acid mine drainage in Gauteng
Friday, 02 May 2014 22:18THE Gauteng agriculture and rural development department launched a five-year plan this week, to treat the problem of acid mine drainage (AMD) in the province.
In the past few years people living around Johannesburg have become aware, thanks to environmental activists and visible evidence, that highly tainted water from old gold mines, dubbed AMD, is rising to surface and polluting water sources.
by Charlotte Mathews
Touring the West Rand
Thursday, 24 April 2014 21:07The Federation for a Sustainable Environment often leads tours to the mining region.
Kagiso uprising
Friday, 18 April 2014 20:59In this four part series we begin with the protest action in Kagiso early this year. The residents of Kagiso on Johannesburg's West Rand are calling for the complete shut down of Mintails Mogale Gold. This mining operation began unrestrained blasting only 100m's away from their homes late in 2013. People describe an earthquake type effect which cracked their walls and foundations. The community then mobilised to have the mine shut down stating in their list of grievances various laws that had been contravened by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) Mogale City and the mining company.
Published by Media for Justice on 18 Apr 2014
Management of the Western Basin Mine Void
Monday, 07 April 2014 08:00"..in the light of the continuing pollution of one of our country's major river systems and one of our countries largest aquifers, and given the inadequacy of the current treatment plant, it does notmake any sense that several new opencast mine pits could have been authorised right on top of the recharge zone of the Western Basin Mine Void".
Expert opinion on situation in West Rand
Wednesday, 02 April 2014 17:09Mintails continue to contribute to the recharge (and subsequent decant from) of the Western Basin Mine Void water (by increasing the number of opencast areas through which recharge occurs), which [FSE] rightly say flow at about 20-30 Ml/day form the 17 and 18 Winze shaft areas. However, currently it is probably flowing at double that rate, due to the huge recharge surface area of the new opencast mine pits.