Rehabilitation

The increase in awareness of environmental issues and the desire for a cleaner environment by the public has caused mining companies to place greater emphasis on the continuous rehabilitation of harmful effects caused by mining operations. Ongoing rehabilitation is also a requirement of the government departments involved in mining in South Africa.

The legacy of mining in South Africa in general and in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province in particular, continues to affect the quality of surface water and groundwater resources. Rehabilitation of Northern KZN abandoned coal mines and their discard coal mine dumps had been undertaken by Government in the 1990’s following the emergence of stricter environmental legislation. The purpose of this study was to study the success of the rehabilitation of these abandoned mines in improving the quality of surface water and groundwater resources around the area.

Clogging of existing boreholes due to natural well ageing is the most common cause of decreasing yield worldwide, also in South Africa. Maintenance plans based on systematic monitoring are required including inspection, service and rehabilitation to lengthen production times and to slow down ageing processes. Therefore a prerequisite of economical well operation is to apply the most efficient measures to secure their production capacity at the lowest possible cost.