Vibrant Roadheader Test Report – Brandspruit Colliery

Ion exchange converted reverse osmosis brine from a power station treating colliery water and cooling tower blowdown into fertiliser and explosives salts, with no liquid effluent left to dispose of. Part of the water rejected by the reverse osmosis stage was also recovered as potable water. Brine is currently used for dust suppression and stored underground.

Ion exchange was assessed as a treatment route for brine arising from mine water cleaning, from a market rather than a plant performance standpoint. World demand for ion exchange resins was expected to pass 535 million dollars by 2015, driven by urbanisation, pollution and shortages of clean water in developing regions.

Electrical and electromagnetic ground surveys were run over a Waterberg profile with borehole logs and three dimensional seismic data as control, to test whether cheaper methods can match seismic reflection for locating coal and faults. Resistivity tomography at two electrode spacings, frequency and time domain electromagnetics, controlled source audio magnetotellurics and magnetics were all acquired. Results are preliminary.