Mining seen posing a threat to water quality in the future
Future mining activities will take place in potentially water-scarce areas, which will also affect water quality in those areas, creating a threat that must be addressed.
This is according to nonprofit company Federation for a Sustainable Environment CEO Mariette Liefferink, who spoke at the fourth EnviroCon, held at the Intundla Game Lodge, in Pretoria, last month.
The conference was hosted by environmental consultancy Environmental Assurance and brought together industry experts and various sector businesses to discuss environmental trends, challenges and behaviour.
Liefferink noted that 12 out of the 19 water management areas in the country were under stress.
She added that South Africa had moved from “having water demands to having water constraints”, which impacts on the economy.
The key demand areas are Gauteng, with its gold and uranium mining; the North West, with its platinum mining, and Mpumalanga, with its coal mining.
“The Crocodile (West) and Marico water management area and the Limpopo catchment area have seen a dramatic increase in water demand, owing to current and proposed mining activities, energy and chemicals group Sasol’s proposed Maphutha coal-to-liquids fuel project, and the exploitation of coal reserves in the Waterberg area, in Limpopo,” she said.
In Limpopo, 52 villages were without water, she pointed out. Another challenge was the limited options for future resource development. Further, Liefferink stated that there was a significant number of new and proposed mining applications.
Meanwhile, in the Vaal water management area, acid mine water was a significant problem and the Central and Eastern basins were flooding.
She warned that the long-term exposure of water sources to acid mine drainage (AMD) has polluted drinking water and might lead to increased susceptibility to cancer and skin lesions, among others. If AMD was not treated to a level where the salt load was removed, she said, the Vaal water management area would go into deficit.
In the Olifants river, in Mpumalanga, water demand often exceeds supply, with at least 80 existing mines having an overallocation of water. There are also between 2 000 and 3 000 proposed mining applications in this province.
“We acknowledge the contribution of the mining sector to the country’s gross domestic product, but it has significant impacts on the environment. We have all endorsed sustainable development to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future, but sustainable development is now a hierarchal status. If we don’t make proactive provision for mining impacts, it will have devastating impacts on the environment,” she said.
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