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

5.6.1.5 Water management systems
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 sub-catchment. The Department operates a system of routine flow
gauging at the Blydepoort Dam and pays particular attention to 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 Blyde and Ohrigstad rivers.
The Blyderivierspoort Irrigation Board is the only formal irrigation board located in this sub-catchment and it is
responsible for al aspects of water supply to the irrigation scheme as well as for releases to the Phalaborwa
barrage.
5.6.1.6 Human impacts on water resources (excluding mining)
The following activities can be expected to have an impact on water resources in the sub-catchment:
• Small landfills and solid waste disposal sites at all towns;
• Disposal of liquid (domestic) effluent at all towns;
• 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
• Moderate amounts of litter and domestic garbage alongside the roads that traverse the sub-catchment.
5.6.2 Mining and mineral processing operations
The following mining operations are of interest in the Blyde sub-catchment (Figures 4.2 and 4.3; Table 5.11).
Table 5.11: Mining operations in the Blyde sub-catchment.
Code
Number
Name of Mine
Commodity (ies)
Mined
cccxiv
Status
Relative
Size
C8-19 Morgenzon Gold Operating Small Low
C8-20 Astra Gold Operating Small Low
5.6.3 Alluvial mining
Probable
Impact