MINE WATER MANAGEMENT: A REGULATORY OVERVIEW

Mining is regulated by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act. However, the DWS has a particular interest in mining’s negative impact on water, as well as the vast quantities of water used in mining and beneficiation processes.

By Raquel Nosie Mazwi, director:

Mine and Industrial Water Quality Regulation, Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) power stations. These coal fields are responsible for the production of mine-influenced water with a high sodium signature. The mines in the west and east of Limpopo impact the Olifants river catchment, which is a tributary of the Limpopo River basin.

Mining activity has been and continues to be key to South Africa’s economic growth; however, it has also resulted in significant water quality challenges:

• The Mpumalanga province is plagued by mine-impacted water polluting the streams. This could be attributed to ownerless mines. Additionally, pollution control works meant to manage mine-impacted waters are in a state of decay due to vandalism.

• The Gauteng province is faced with heavily polluted mine water due to pyrite that is associated with gold mining. The province is also faced with rising levels of mine-impacted water leading to decants.

• In the KwaZulu-Natal region, there are a lot of coal mines that are abandoned and left to decant.

• In Limpopo, especially in the Lephalale area, coal mining is prevalent mainly due to the production of electricity via coal-fired

Due to the large number of abandoned and ownerless mines in the South Africa, the DWS is faced with a legal and financial responsibility to address water related impacts.

Recently approved Mine Water Policy Environmental law has evolved over the past years to give effect to the concept of sustainability, and South African laws have been hailed as some of the most progressive in the world.

Recently approved by Cabinet, the Mine Water Policy sets out the policy principles that strive to strengthen the protection of the water resources from

Government Departments Working Closely To Regulate Mining And Its Impacts

• Department of Mineral Resources

• Department of Environmental Affairs

• Department of Water and Sanitation mine water contamination for the short and long term. It will strengthen the existing legislation, streamline environmental processes, and encourage sustainability.

The purpose of this policy is to provide a coherent and integrated approach towards sustainable mine water management. The objective of the policy is to provide relevant and integrated legislative remedies in order to strengthen a proactive mine water management approach within the whole mining life cycle.

POLICY PRINCIPLE 1: Integrated approach to mine water

POLICY PRINCIPLE 2: Apportionment of liabilities

Abandoned mines and unmanaged decants pose a huge environmental