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

The South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) is responsible for the management of all
aspects of water supply and water use in the Steelpoort sub-catchment. The Department operates a system of
routine flow gauging at the major water supply dams and reservoirs, and pays particular attention to monitoring
the quantity of water supplied to irrigation schemes and towns, as well as increasing attention to the quality of
agricultural return flows and effluent discharges to the Steelpoort River. The various irrigation boards are
responsible for the day-to-day management of water allocations for irrigation.
5.5.1.6 Human impacts on water resources (excluding mining)
The following activities can be expected to have an impact on water resources in the Steelpoort sub-catchment:
• Small landfills and solid waste disposal sites at all towns and larger industries;
• Disposal of liquid (domestic) effluent at all towns and industries;
• Small volumes of runoff from the towns and urbanized areas;
• De-vegetation and other forms of veld degradation, leading to increased erosion and loads of suspended
sediments in most streams and rivers;
• Non-point domestic effluent from numerous small settlements and farms;
• Minor non-point impact from non-intensive commercial or subsistence agriculture;
• Minor non-point impact of agricultural return flows from intensive irrigation areas; and
• Litter and domestic garbage alongside the roads that traverse the sub-catchment.
5.5.2 Mining and mineral processing operations
The following mining operations are of interest in the Steelpoort sub-catchment (Figures 4.2 and 4.3; Table
5.9).
Table 5.9: Mining operations in the Steelpoort sub-catchment.
Code
No
Name of Mine
Commodity
(ies) Mined
cccix
Status
Relative
Size
Probable
Impact
C7-23 Magneetshoogte Iron, Vanadium Prospecting Small Very low
C8-12 Winterveld Chrome Operating Very large High
C8-13 Doornbosch Platinum Closed Small Very low
C8-14 Lannex Chrome Operating Large Medium – High
C8-15 Boskloof Vanadium Prospecting Small Very low
C8-16 Kennedy’s Vale Vanadium Operating Medium Medium – High
C8-17 Tweefontein Chrome, Platinum Operating Very large Medium – High
C8-18 Kruger’s Post Andalusite Operating Large Low
C8-21 Thorncliffe Chrome Operating Large Medium – High
D7-1 Mapochs Vermiculite Vermiculite Operating Small Very low