The South African Mine Water Atlas, which will provide a comprehensive reference on the vulnerability of water resources to mining activity in South Africa, is in the final stages of development.

The Atlas will show the critical interplay between mining and water resources and will be the most extensive set of documents of its kind.

“We’re very excited about this project. It’s a world first. No country in the world has done this before,” said Research Manager for the Water Research Commission, Jo Burgess.

Phase 1 of the keenly awaited Mine Water Atlas, which is being led by global environmental and engineering consultancy Golder Associates, is expected to be unveiled within the next six months.

The printed publication will be followed up with an interactive online atlas.

What is the Mine Water Atlas?

The multi-layered set of maps will span all mineral provinces in South Africa and particularly drill down into the areas where mining frequently takes place. The maps will chart and map water resources in the various provinces.

This in turn will be overlaid with maps of mining and mineral-refining activities in order to understand the locations at which surface and groundwater and mining collide.

Who can use it?

Brendan Hart of Golder Associates said the Atlas is intended to help mining companies, investors, government departments and students get a better understanding of the impact of mining on water resources.

While it is an extremely useful guide, the Atlas does not replace Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) or tell you where you can or can’t mine. “It rather sets the decision context around the likely impacts of mining activity in a given mineral region,” said Hart.

Hart believes the Mine Water Atlas will help mining companies and investors get information about the areas in which they’re active.

They’ll be able to use it to see what their liabilities may be and what the focus of mitigation measures may need to be to protect water resources in their area of operation.

It will help government departments to visualise and highlight areas that are very risky, and also help define the key questions for impact assessment.

The Atlas will serve as an educational reference for legislators as well as universities, while it is also geared towards raising awareness among the general public about the critical link between water and mining.