hydrochemical

This study focus on the feasibility of coal ash backfill into historical and future, acid generating coal mines. However, there is limited knowledge of how South African ash would behave in these acidic opencast mines. Therefore the aim is to improve the understanding of the change in hydro-geochemical properties of coal ash with reference to acid mine drainage (AMD). Fly ash from two power stations in Mpumalanga were assessed in the laboratory.

The City of Cape Town (CoCT) and surrounding areas in the Western Cape is experiencing one of the worst droughts recorded in over a century and has been declared a disaster area. The need to develop the underlying, shallow Cape Flats Aquifer (CFA) has become of utmost importance to increase the resilience of the CoCT during times of drought. Since early 2018, over 180 boreholes have been drilled into the CFA and undergone test pumping and hydrochemical sampling.

The hydrochemical, water stable isotopes of groundwater have been determined around Evander Goldfields Mine in Mpumalanga. Based on the stratigraphy of the study area four major aquifer systems can be identified namely Karoo Supergroup, Transvaal Supergroup, Ventersdorp Supergroup and Witwatersrand Supergroup. Hydrochemical and isotope in groundwater were assessed for Karoo and Witwatersrand Supergroup aquifer systems.