Plans on the table to fill up abandoned mines

There is a solution for the defunct mines next to Jackaroopark.
It is going to take 10 years, but there is hope that these mines will be rehabilitated.

After months of e-mails and phone calls to different role-players regarding the defunct mines on the outskirts of the City of Coal, one e-mail changed a very bleak picture.
Mr Wouter van Deventer, chief executive officer of Shefa Group of Companies said he owns ground in the 270-hectar perimeter. And if all goes according to plan his Group will have its Mining Right soon and work on the ground will start.

“We are sitting with an environmental disaster of 270 hectares,” Van Deventer said.

He said the company’s first step will be to dig trenches and create firewalls around the perimeter before block by block removing the top soil, removing the coal and filling the ground.
Van Deventer stretched far back and explained that eMalahleni’s contribution to coal production can be traced back to the early 1930’s.

Witbank was established in 1820 to establish coal deposits in the area. With the construction of the railway to Pretoria the town came alive.
Since then its contribution into coal production became an essential part of history.
However, back in the day no one realised the huge impact mining would have on land degradation and water pollution.
Old underground mine workings have collapsed in places, leaving large areas pockmarked with sinkholes. In some places spontaneous combustion is taking place adding more stress to the already vulnerable ground.
Acid mine drainage and related metal contamination can not be left out. This in itself spells disaster. Here the sensitive Olifants River will be on the short end with its sensitive ecosystem coming under siege.
Van Deventer said there are several defunct mines in eMalahleni.

“We partnered with the Department of Mineral Resources, the Department of Water, the local municipality and the community to see this project through,” Van Deventer said.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) recently said the DMR is careless in holding owners of abandoned mines responsible for rehabilitating them and the acidic water they often contain.
The department said it could cost up to R60 -billion to rehabilitate abandoned and ownerless mines in the country.