South Africa
D&O mines in Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and the Western Cape provinces
Specialist studies on the D&O mines and closure of dangerous mine openings
Department of Mineral Resources
RR Group of Industry
- Completed
01 April, 2015
2018
DERELICT AND OWNERLESS MINES PROJECT
The renewed contract for the Derelict and Ownerless (D&O) mines project commenced on April 01, 2015, and will continue until the 2017/18 financial year. The D&O project is funded by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). Generally, the scope of the project entails the D&O mine database management and maintenance, specialist studies on the D&O mines, and closure of dangerous mine openings. Furthermore, the D&O specialist studies include environmental, geochemical, geohydrological, hydrological, geotechnical, and dust and air quality studies.
On the other hand, we undertook post-closure rehabilitation monitoring and maintenance and phytoremediation studies. Figure 1.2 above shows the locations of about 6000 D&O mines in South Africa. The CGS project team continuously conducts desktop and field investigations on the D&O mines in Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and the Western Cape provinces. The field investigations are aimed at collecting information about the D&O mines, followed by the process of prioritising these mines for rehabilitation using the criteria of risk ranking. Thereafter, the decision to rehabilitate the mines will generally depend on their negative impacts on people and the environment.
