Determination of the Impact of Coal Mine Water Irrigation on Groundwater Resources
Groundwater investigation behind mine water irrigation in the Mpumalanga coalfields, with hydraulic testing, leaching studies and site selection and monitoring guidance for mines and regulators.
by P.D. Vermeulen, B.H. Usher and G.J. van Tonder | April 2007
Monitoring and geochemical modelling at five pilot sites, on undisturbed soils and on opencast spoils, showed that most soils held a large share of the applied salt in the upper unsaturated zone and that salinity built up slowly. Leachate volumes, leachate quality and aquifer mixing ratios were quantified. Irrigation is recommended on alternating pivots and for no longer than ten years in one area.
R1500,00
Description
Related Products
R1500,00
A technology to condition plants with adapted Rhizospheric soil/substrate bacterial species to improve vegetation resilience and growth on rehabilitated land
2024
Review and proposed method for using soil microbial communities to establish lasting vegetation on coal waste substrates where topsoil is scarce. For rehabilitation and closure practitioners.
What this report foundConventional rehabilitation relies on lime, fertiliser and compost to build fertility and select adaptive species, which produces short term cover but rarely a...
R1500,00
Conventional rehabilitation relies on lime, fertiliser and compost to build fertility and select adaptive species, which produces short term cover but rarely a self sustaining ecosystem. The work argues for treating soil microbes as part of the system, since bacteria drive nutrient cycling, organic matter breakdown and soil aggregation, and proposes conditioning plants with adapted rhizosphere bacteria on coal waste substrates.
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...
R1500,00
Stockpiling 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 density increased from stockpiling through to rehabilitation, and effective depth on rehabilitated areas was under 17 cm in most cases. Topsoil organic carbon fell by almost half and microbial species numbers dropped in the stockpiles.