MINE WASTE
Legislation preventing the
recycling of mining waste Mine waste is the single largest waste stream generated in South Africa, accounting for 87.7% of all waste generated in the countr y. By Lorren Haywood, Benita de Wet, Willem de Lange & Suzan Oelofse*
T
he magnitude of environmental damage associated with acid mine drainage and leaching from mine waste dumps globally is rated by the European Environmental Bureau as “second only to global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion.” Merely addressing the environmental damage is not enough to mitigate the impacts. A more proactive approach is required. Avoiding waste generation by using smar ter mining techniques, as
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well as the reuse of mine waste in other applications, would bring about alignment with the waste management hierarchy and suppor t South Africa’s transition to a circular economy. Numerous uses of mine waste have been documented globally, including aggregate and fill material for construction, structural additives to concrete, topsoil for agricultural activities, backfill, landscaping material, and aggregate in roadbuilding. Mine water is often used for dust suppression and in mineral processing, industrial cooling, and
– with proper treatment – even for irrigation and domestic use. The mine water purification plant supplying water of drinking water quality to eMalahleni Municipality in Mpumalanga is an example; however, uptake of the reuse of mine waste in South Africa has been slow. The CSIR investigated the main reasons for the slow uptake of the reuse of mine waste in the South African economy and discovered that legislative and governance issues are the primar y reason. The
