Acid Mine Drainage

Acid Mine Drainage

Johannesburg: The City of Gold. This first class African city that was built on gold is now its greatest dilemma: Acid mine Drainage. By focusing on the possible environmental, economical and social effects Johannesburg and its surrounding areas will be facing, I will be discussing the exactly what AMD is and who should be held responsible for all the damage caused.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) occurs when groundwater rises and floods old, abandoned mine shafts causing the weathering of pyrite. Pyrite oxidises to produce very acidic waters. This water is then often filled with heavy metals and toxic from ore such as copper, cadium and zinc which are solubilised. The water from AMD is initially clear but turns orange due to neutralization from precipitation of iron oxides and hydroxides.

The contaminated water poses huge environmental threats. The rising groundwater can cause earth tremors and trigger sinkholes. Many rivers and the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve especially, are in danger. The precipitation smothers the river beds in very fine silt and so kills many of the small animals that used to feed on the bottom of the stream. This causes a lack of food to fish higher up in the food-chain and so negatively impacts them. The fish alone are not the only organisms being affected. Lafayette's discharges flow into the Albay Gulf which is a migration path for whale sharks and turtles. This discharge of silt is posing as a huge threat to these already endangered animals.

Similarly, larger animals are also being affected. Two hippos in Krugersdorp are slowly going blind due to AMD contaminating their habitat.

In addition to loss of marine and wild life, South Africa could also lose a valuable asset needed for our economy: The Cradle of Humankind. The Sterkfontein caves attract thousands of global tourists annually but this heritage site could be flooded and damaged by AMD water if the government does not act upon the situation soon.

However, R218 million is needed for new pump stations, pipelines and the upgrading of existing waterworks facilities. South African government states that only R14 million is available. If action is not taken, the AMD water will corrode the caves and buildings; disintegrating the foundations which will cause the buildings and surrounding structures to collapse. This will be disastrous as many people will be injured (leading to a decrease in productivity) and this will negatively impact our economy as millions of Rands will be lost from tourists.

Although the government is short of money, I believe that they should hold the mines responsible for the damage; after all, it is them that decided to mine the gold and should have thought of the consequences before abandoning the mines. The mine owners need to come together and discuss ways