Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pumps have been installed in the Witwatersrand area. These pumps will ensure the area’s AMD remains below the Environmental Critical Level (ECL).

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa and Mineral Resource Minister Susan Shabangu were present when the pumps were installed at the newly built Central Basin Pump Station in Witwatersrand. Molewa said, once operational at the end of April, the pumps will ensure that the Central Basin remains below the Environmental Critical Level, protecting the environment the country’s water courses.

Along with the pumps, the construction of High Density Sludge treatment plants will neutralise the AMD before it is discharged into the environment. The installation and construction of the pumps, treatment plant and monitoring shafts commenced in January 2013 and is valued at R319 million.

Once the treatment plant is fully operational, an average of 57 million litres of AMD per day will be treated and discharged into the Klipriver.

Molewa said her department will continuously apply regulatory mechanisms for the adoption and implementation of long-term AMD or mine water management strategies by mining companies.