Surface Environment
Recharge in Rehabilitated Opencast Collieries
2019
Groundwater levels and pumping records from five rehabilitated opencast pits at South African collieries, for hydrogeologists and closure planners estimating post-mining water balances.
What this report foundRecharge factors of 23.5 per cent and 12.9 per cent were calculated at the two rehabilitated pits with complete data.
Rehabilitation of Mined Land – Soil Compaction Alleviation
2011
Final report on mined land rehabilitation trials comparing pasture species and organic amendments on compacted mine soil against normal agricultural soil, for rehabilitation and pasture planning.
What this report foundExperimental studies tested ways to alleviate compaction on mine soils by combining mechanical treatment with organic material.
Rehabilitation of Mined Land Irrigation of Pastures with Gypsiferous Mine water
2011
Pasture and animal production work on rehabilitated mine land under mine water irrigation, joining agronomy and animal science, for rehabilitation and closure planners.
What this report foundGrazing trials on tall fescue pasture irrigated with gypsiferous mine water on rehabilitated mined land, run over several seasons.
Soil Rehabilitation: Can Dung Beetles Improve Post-mining Land-use Options?
2018
Final report of a three year study on rehabilitated South African coal mine soils, testing an invertebrate based addition to conventional rehabilitation, for environmental managers and land use planners.
What this report foundAnts, termites, dung beetles and earthworms are known to improve soil health, but none had been deliberately applied as part of a mine reclamation strategy.
Stockpiling of Coal Mine Soils
2016
Physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of 257 unmined, stockpile and rehabilitated soil samples from four Witbank opencast mines, plus a pot trial on amendments, for soil handling planning.
What this report foundStockpiling degraded every soil property measured across four Witbank area mines. Clay content of topsoil and subsoil rose by 50 to 60 per cent, surface bulk...
The Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from South African Surface and Abandoned Coal Mines
2012
Direct sampling across burning, burnt out and rehabilitated dumps at surface mines covering just over half of national surface production, scaled to a national emissions estimate.
What this report foundGas sampling on coal mine dumps found rehabilitation very effective at cutting emissions.
The impact of cattle grazing on rehabilitated land
Two annual surveys of species composition, biomass and soil sampling inside and outside fenced plots on rehabilitated pasture at an opencast colliery near Ogies, with benchmark sites for comparison.
What this report foundGrazing pressure on the rehabilitated block ran at roughly three times the estimated carrying capacity.
Treatment of Sulphate Rich Effluents with the Combined Electrolytic/Biological Process
2003
Laboratory work on producing hydrogen by electrolysis as the energy source for sulphate reducing bacteria, aimed at cutting the running cost of treating sulphate rich mine water.
What this report foundHydrogen for biological sulphate removal can be generated on site by electrolysis more cheaply than it can be bought.
Unlocking obstacles to the commercialisation of eutectic freeze crystallisation
2022
Laboratory crystallisation cell tests on copper, brass, stainless steel and aluminium cooling plates in sodium sulphate solution, aimed at replacing mechanical scraping in brine treatment plants.
What this report foundHeat exchanger material governs how fast ice scale forms during eutectic freeze crystallisation of dilute brine.
Wetland rehabilitation with Dongalock shutters
2021
Two field trials, one on a mine affected wetland and one on an undisturbed site, both built by community members, plus a desktop comparison against engineering and cost criteria.
What this report foundCompared against concrete and gabions on cost, construction time, footprint, durability and safety, the Dongalock product proved cheaper and quicker to install...
Wetlands Inventory of Upper Olifants River Catchment
2007
Catchment wide wetland inventory spanning parts of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, artificial wetlands included, with attributes on type, function and status for environmental planners.
What this report foundA digital wetland map and linked database were compiled for the Upper Olifants River Catchment from existing literature, existing wetland layers and aerial...