STUDY OBJECTIVES
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is one of the major environmental challenges to be dealt
with in the mining sector, especially mining in the East, Central and West Rand
underground mining basins. To deal with this problem at a very high level, an
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) comprising of the Ministers of Mineral
Resources, Water and Environmental Affairs, Science and Technology and the
Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission was established.
Subsequently, a Team of Experts was instructed by a Task Team, chaired by the
Directors-General of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs to advise the IMC, in
respect of AMD.
On 9 February 2011, Cabinet accepted the recommendations of the Team of Experts,
and instructed that, in the medium- to long-term, consideration should be given
to steps which will reduce the mine water contribution to the salinity of major
river systems and that the necessary feasibility studies will need to be
initiated as soon as possible.
A Feasibility Study was subsequently initiated by the Department of Water and Sanitation as a matter of priority. The main goal of the Feasibility study was to-
A feasible solution would be one that was technically sound, environmentally
sustainable, economically viable, institutionally feasible and legally
acceptable. As such, the study’s focus was not only on the technical aspects of
a long-term solution (in terms of treatment options), but also on the
ecological, social, economic, financial, legal, and institutional aspects,
associated with such a solution.
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