• ENVIRONMENT
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stakeholders . I know . from the Department ’ s side , it ' s something that it ’ s looking to implement in more water use licenses .
The design of the dewatering and recharge system was a collaborative South African solution . We engaged with specialists within the Department of Water and Sanitation . SRK Consulting advised us initially , and we ' ve worked with a number of other groundwater specialists that are active on the West Coast . Kropz also drew from the advice of the University of the Western Cape ( UWC ), which has a very good groundwater department with access to some of the best groundwater modelling software in the country . The Institute for Water Studies is based at UWC .
1 . ‘ Search and Rescue ’ – harvesting of plants for propagation at the off-site nursery . prior to bush clearing .
2 . Elandsfontein Softs Stockpile , with wind-netting and rehabilitation in the distance . 3 . Removal of alien vegetation .
What about investment ? Approximately R6-million has been spent on water-related studies : drilling , understanding the groundwater and the theory side of it . A significant investment of R25-30-million was spent on the implementation of the system . There are 36 abstraction boreholes in total for the initial phase of mining , and then another 20 recharge boreholes downstream , in addition to the 29 monitoring boreholes . Some of the boreholes are fitted with automated loggers , so they provide real-time data . A sophisticated database is in place to capture information and allow it to be presented to key stakeholders in an easy-tounderstand way , wherever they are .
Side of softs stockpile , with rehabilitation on lower slopes , 2017 .
Level indicators on boreholes and flow meters on pipelines produce data which is stored and constantly monitored . An independent groundwater company is responsible for sampling and collection of field data , and management of the chemical analyses of water samples . This company is also the custodian of the database . As an indication of costs , water chemistry analysis alone is a R1-million investment per year .
What challenges have you had to overcome , and what do you have in place as a means of proactive prevention of environmental issues going forward ? The initial concern of local environmentalists was that the aquifer wouldn ' t accept the large volumes of water that Kropz was pumping back in , as this had never been attempted on this scale before . They were concerned that the water would effectively build up in the area where we were recharging the aquifer , and we would create artificial wetlands . A second concern was that if we somehow exposed the water to oxygen or air for an extended period of time , we would change chemistry , which would then change the water quality downstream . The closed system , however , has ensured that this does not happen .
Side of softs stockpile , with rehabilitation on lower slopes , 2020 .
20 • African Mining • February 2022
Going forward , we will need to ensure that , when mining starts in the pit , there is no contamination from any diesel or oil spills ,
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