A 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
There are no environmental checks on Gauteng's emergency response to the mine drainage crisis, as polluted water seeps into rivers and land.
Residents long for wind of change, but all they get is illness every time a hazardous cocktail blows into town.
Residents on edge as miner mulls reopening pit
FSE’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”.
The 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.
The 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.
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 radioactive, sludge the project will churn out.
The 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.
THE 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
The Federation for a Sustainable Environment often leads tours to the mining region.
In 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
"..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".
Mintails 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.
MINING Re-discovering Water Roots: the Consequences of Nickel Mine Prospecting in the Groot Marico River Region, South AfricaResearch project attached for download. |
Sisulu: Third of Audited Mines Violate Conditions of Water Use LicenceArticle written by Sheree Bega | 5 January 2021Costly cleanup: Mine waste water ... |
SA NEWS FSE - DONATION OF TREES AND TREE PLANTING IN SIMUNYE, WEST RAND IN ASSOCIATION WITH SOUTH DEEP MINEThe FSE, in association with Gold Fields’ South Deep Mine, donated 40 white Karee Trees (Searsia penduline) during Arbor Week to the mining affected community of Simunye in the West Rand and participated in the tree planting ceremony with the community of Simunye, the local Municipality and officials from South Deep Mine. The FSE also delivered a presentation during the ceremony. |
"Varkies" gou op hok, maar als nie pluis | BeeldArticle also available for download as an attachment. |
Radon Alert - Carte BlancheMillions of South Africans are exposed to radioactive radon gas in their homes and workplaces every day, as the naturally occurring gas escapes through cracks in the earth. The second leading cause of lung cancer in several countries, radon breaks down and when inhaled, decaying atoms emit alpha radiation that can damage the DNA. There are no safe levels of radon concentration. The United States Environmental Protection Agency emphasises any radon exposure has some risk of causing lung cancer. Carte Blanche investigates why South Africa has no regulations to protect against radon accumulation in the home and what you can do to test your home and prevent lung cancer. Watch the video here. |
WITS Economics & Finance Courses: Mining for Development: The Taxation LinkageEconomics & Finance Courses at the University of the Witwatersrand. Mining for Development: The Taxation Linkage - Understand taxation for development and sustainability in mining. View the course here. Enrolment starts on the 7th of October 2019. |
WATER FSE’s presentation to the Water and Sanitation Sector Leadership Group’s (WSSLG)* Sustainable Development Goal 6 Task Team on Thursday, the 26th of November 2020.*The Water and Sanitation Sector Leadership Group (WSSLG) is the highest non-statutory strategic sector partnership forum for the South African water sector. The WSSLG serves as a think tank for the water sector and prepares an overarching national action agenda for implementing the National Water and Sanitation Resource Strategy 2 (NWSRS2) and ensures that sound policies, laws, strategies, programmes and institutions are developed to achieve the goals outlined in the NWRS2. The WSSLG also actively facilitates dialogue between the Department of Water and Sanitation, government departments, civil society and the private sector for input, support and contributions to joint strategic and coordinated actions to improve the implementation of water sector policies, strategies and programmes. In its advisory role, the WSSLG provides recommendations on policies, legislation, programmes and strategies and serves as credible forum for stakeholder consultation and involvement in the development of sector policies, legislation, programmes and strategies. Presentation attached for download. |
How Relevant are the Vaal Barrage's Catchment ForumsArticle in North Star - Vereeniging & Midvaal.Author: Johann Tempelhoff Art... |
UNPACKING THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN WATERPDF article attached for download.... |