tailing dams

Environmental isotope and hydrochemical analyses were employed to improve existing understanding of groundwater flow dynamics in the defunct mine for assessing the source of water at a pumping shaft located near Stilfontein Town, Northwest Province, South Africa. Currently pumping is done using the shaft at an average rate of 37,000 m3 /day to prevent flooding of downstream mines.

The North West Province has produced a large portion of South Africa’s inland alluvial diamonds. Kimberlite intrusions are typically the parent source for the alluvial diamonds. Diamondiferous kimberlite intrusions were eroded over time by surface run-off and streams which transport the diamondiferous sediments downstream to depositional regimes. The diamondiferous alluvial deposits around Schweizer- Reneke were mostly deposited on magmatic rock of the Ventersdorp Supergroup.