Other Events

Recent trends in mining and exploration are set to further accelerate the demand and growth of 3D geological modelling software. These trends include the inevitable increase in cost per ton of resource and global economic slowdowns. These require companies to constantly cost-cut during extraction and to improve resource delineation. Add to this the trend that new discoveries are deeper and in more structurally-complex setting, and it’s apparent that a great deal of attention needs to be focused on getting the geometry of a deposit, as early as possible in the exploration and mining value chain, correct.

Alongside the effects of climate change and anthropogenic factors, natural climate cycles have considerable impacts on the hydrologic cycle. In this study, we look at how global climatic oscillations cycles, like El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) affect total water storage and groundwater storage in the Orange-Senqu River Basin by analysing two large aquifers: the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) shared between Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and the Karoo Sedimentary Aquifer shared between Lesotho and South Africa.

Public domain borehole information in South Africa is generally stored in the National Groundwater Archive (NGA) and the Groundwater Resources Information Project (GRIP) databases of which both are centralized databases. The GRIP database is updated by the Department of Water and Sanitation, but only covers one of the nine provinces. The NGA on the other hand covers the entire country, however, there is a backlog of borehole information that needs to be captured, and it has limited time-series data.

Groundwater is not private property, and the use of groundwater requires a water use license or a general authorization. This is imperative for most environmental impact assessments, requiring even ongoing monitoring for the foreseeable future.

The Groundwater Division and its partners are presenting a groundwater field school for postgraduate students and industry professionals. The four-day field school aims to cover appropriate field methods by Introducing or refreshing appropriate basic theory Exposing attendees to the actual field methods in real field conditions Analysing and interpreting field results based on appropriate guidelines, standards, laws, and requirements The field school comprise four modules and attendance can be p/day, p/theme or for the full package: Day 1: Investigation and Siting (hydrogeology and hydrostratigraphy; siting of

Investigation for cemetery sites requires the detection i. of a wide range of different contaminant groups, ii. at typically very low concentrations (if present), iii. as well as natural and geological impacts on the proposed developments; and iv. with important safety and human and ecosystem health effects if undetected. The issues of internment and how we deal with the deceased in general transect disciplines of natural science, engineering, and social science. Given the sensitive nature of internment and the established notions of acceptable practice at an individual and personal level, assessment

Extractive Remedial Technologies Design and Pilot Testing (MPE, DPE, SVE, P&T)
The webinar is free of charge. Feel free to share the invitation with colleagues and other applicable networks. Please note that the link to the Webinar will be circulated on 30 June.

Herewith notifying members that GeoCongress 2020 is happening at Stellenbosch University this year (see links from the GSSA below) and that there will be a groundwater session titled "Advances in Southern African Hydrogeology".

Microplastics are tiny particles (smaller than 5mm) found in the environment. They are synthetic polymers and are either produced in its microform to be utilized in personal care products and detergents or disintegrated from larger plastics or synthetic materials (e.g. recycled polyethylene terephthalate items), respectively known as primary or secondary microplastics.

Fieldwork & the focus on geophysics AT Receiver - Pseudo-Science or a method worth investigating. The Audio Magnetotelluric (AMT) signal is generally in the range of 1Hz - 20 kHz with its origin as spherics created by thunderstorms, magnetospheric noise, seismic events, etc. Historical AMT monitors up to five channels at each station, namely Ex Ey Hx Hy Hz. The EM field is a plane wave perpendicular to the ground surface, away from the field source.