OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

3.19.1.6 Human impacts on water resources (excluding mining)
The following could be expected to have an impact on water resources:
• Disposal of solid and liquid wastes at all major towns and cities;
• Urban run off from towns and villages;
• Non-point sources of domestic effluent in the urban and rural areas;
• Contaminated (fertilizers and pesticides) return flows from larger farms; and
• Litter and garbage on the main roads between towns and cities.
3.19.2 Mining and mineral processing operations
There are several small alluvial gold operations in the Tanzanian sector of this sub-catchment (Ruhuhu River
(Figure 3.4; Table 3.18)), with many artisan miners extracting gold and selling it to Tanzanian buyers. The only
other mineral deposits of note are the coal and limestone workings at several points along the lakeshore on both
the Tanzanian (Table 3.18) and Malawian sides (Table 3.19). A few artisan miners make a living extracting
low-grade rubies from Mulanje Mountain and gold from the Lisungwe diggings (Table 3.19; Figure 3.4).
Table 3.18: Mining operations in the Tanzanian sector of the Shire sub-catchment.
Code
Number
Name of Mine
Commodity (ies)
Mined
cxli
Status
Relative
Size
Probable
Impact
T-1 Liweta Coal Prospecting Very small Very low
T-2 Mchuchuma Gold – alluvial Operating Artisan (many) Low
T-3 Ketewaka Iron Prospecting Very small Very low
T-4 Mbamba Coal Operating Very small Low
T-5 Songwe Coal Operating Very small Low
T-6 Songwe-Kiwira Coal, chrome Operating Very small Very low
Table 3.19: Mining operations in the Malawi sector of the Shire sub-catchment.
Code
Number
Name of Mine
Commodity (ies)
Mined
Status
Relative
Size
Probable
Impact
N-1 Misuku Coal Prospecting Very small Very low
N-2 Mzuzu Copper Prospecting Very small Very low
N-3 Mchenga Coal Operating Very small Very low
N-4 Dwangwa Limestone Operating Small Very low
N-5 Dwangwa-Coal Coal Operating Very small Very low
N-6 Ntchisi Limestone Operating Small Very low
N-7 Mchinji Iron Prospecting Small Very low