Approximately 30 million litres of acid mine drainage (AMD) is spilling out to the surface in the West Rand every day owing to the recent heavy rains.

Mintails Mogale Gold general manager of operations Jan Jacobs says the conversion of a nearby high-density sludge plant to a pumping station had stopped surface decant for 17 months. The station, managed by the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority, can pump, treat and discharge 27 million litres of AMD per day. However, the discharge rate has increased to 30 million litres per day following the recent heavy rains, rendering the pumping station’s capacity insufficient.

According to Mintails chief financial officer Eddie Milne, it is unlikely that the discharge rate will slow naturally. He says Mintails has approximately 35 megalitres excess capacity atits pumping and treatment facilities and has offered the use of it to government at cost price. This would bring total capacity to around 70 megalitres per day, enough to stop the decant.However, an agreement is still pending.

The AMD is posing a critical danger to the future drinking water supply nationally. The excess AMD is currently flowing, untreated, into the Tweelopiespruit, which flows through the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve, before joining other tributaries leading to the Vaal Barrage. Jacobs says the Tweelopiespruit now has no fish or frogs and is essentially dead.

 

(Source: The Citizen)