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TCTA invites stakeholders to tour Western basin AMD treatment plant

7th July 2016

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The State-owned Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) last week hosted environmental watchdog the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE), accompanied by international guests from the University of Michigan and the University of Hong Kong, at the acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment plant in the Western basin of the Witwatersrand.

The TCTA explained that the tour was an educational excursion, aimed at comparing the challenges of and solutions to AMD globally.

“An issue as complex and controversial as AMD requires that we open our doors to differing voices . . . to give ourselves an opportunity to learn as we move forward,” said TCTA project management and implementation executive manager Johann Claassens.

He stated that the TCTA had been giving a number of stakeholders an opportunity to visit its AMD sites over the years, adding that this had successfully provided a platform for dialogue and engagement with the industry’s partners.

“We welcome all stakeholders who have an interest in seeing how we are tackling the challenge of AMD,” he remarked.

Claassens explained that, up until the implementation of the current AMD project, TCTA’s work had been solely focused on the implementation and funding of dam and water transfer infrastructure projects, as well as on advising the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation (DWS), and Water Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, on a number of specific areas.

Meanwhile, commenting on the Western basin AMD plant, FSE CEO Mariette Liefferink said that she was particularly encouraged by the efforts, which were managing the AMD challenge in the Witwatersrand goldfields.

“It is also heartening to note that the DWS has recently mandated TCTA to implement a long-term solution to AMD,” she added.

There are three basins in the Witwatersrand goldfields, namely the Western, Central and Eastern basins. The risks related to these basins differ from one basin to another.

Claassens noted that the short-term intervention to address AMD was aimed at maintaining the environmental critical levels (ECLs), thereby reducing environmental risks like the contamination of groundwater, the flooding of underground infrastructure, increased seismic activity, and the ecological impact on major river systems.

The long-term solution to AMD aims to transform AMD into fully treated water, thereby substantially increasing water supply to the Vaal river system and meeting the water needs of South Africa’s economic hub.

Claassens pointed out that the solution entails further treatment, removing sulphates and producing water for industrial or potable use. “This process will, therefore, turn the AMD problem into a long-term sustainable solution by producing safe water,” he enthused.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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