Water, Sewage & Effluent Mar Vol 30 No 2 | Page 14

“The challenge is to plan for shortages, and to limit the amount of water they draw from outside
sources. Mines are competing with communities for water, and the authorities will ask a mine to
cut back usage long before they ask the community to cut back.”

Alternative methods
Reducing water use should be a main
consideration in modernising mines.
Alternative methods of breaking rock
and reducing dust and heat are needed.
Modernisation would also include
using energy more efficiently, through
providing ventilation on demand and
removing workers from high risk areas.
Mines should also consider using
groundwater more effectively.
Mines in Limpopo and the Northern
Cape, where minerals like manganese,
platinum, iron ore and chrome which
need large volumes of water during
material processing are mined, are
especially vulnerable. “The challenge

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Water Sewage & Effluent March/April 2016

is to plan for shortages, and to limit
the amount of water they draw from
outside sources. Mines are competing
with communities for water, and
the authorities will ask a mine to cut
back usage long before they ask the
community to cut back.”
Shepherd says the Water Act marked
the beginning of a significant change,
and forced mines to minimise raw water
intake by recycling. Regulations clamped
down on pollution, which caused mines
to restrict their water footprint so they
had smaller areas to rehabilitate.
He says water management has to
become a p