S-Af: Coal mining plans put fresh water at risk

Plans to mine for coal in the catchment areas of major rivers present a serious threat to South Africa’s fresh water resources.

Acid pollution caused by coal mining has already destroyed the Wilge River that flows through the Ezemvelo Reserve near Bronkhorstpruit, Mpumalanga, and has caused mass deaths of fish and crocodiles at the Olifants River inlet to Loskop Dam, between Middelburg and Groblersdal.
Now proposals are on the table to mine in an area northwest of Ermelo, where the Vaal River originates. It is called the Spitzkop Greenfields Project and the prospective mining company is Xstrata, which owns several mines in the Mpumalanga highveld coal fields.

Professor Terence McCarthy of the school of geosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand has written to Xstrata’s consultants, warning that if the project goes ahead, it is likely that within a decade the water quality in the upper Vaal will deteriorate to the point where it will no longer be fit for human consumption.

IOL