The use of mine water balances to optimise water management in opencast and underground collieries in the Witbank coalfields of South Africa
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Date
2019-01
Authors
Lombard, Jan-Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Mine water management continues to become ever more important with the continual
increase and expansion of coal mining operations within already water stressed and
contaminated catchment areas in South Africa. Mine water balances are one of the most
effective methods to assist in optimising the management of water reticulation and storage in
opencast and underground collieries. Before developing a water balance, it is crucially
important to have a clear understanding of the parameters that play a role in the recharge
and water make into the mining operations. Different methods of data gathering may be
employed in order to develop the conceptual model for a mine water balance. A literature
review is done in order to obtain generic values relevant to the entirety of the Witbank Coal
Field and a case study is done in order to obtain site specific parameters. The case study is
done for a typical mine which included both opencast and underground sections in the premining,
operational and post closure phases of mining Both generic and site specific
parameters is used in order to create three mine water balance scenarios. The water
balance scenarios investigated indicate the sensitivity and importance of collecting accurate
and representative data when developing a mine water balance. The mine water balance
calculations together with the associated storage capacity assessments for each of the mine
workings is used to assess and highlight the sensitivity of the input data used as well as to
indicate the importance of ensuring that accurate and representative data is used when
undertaking water balances as a water management tool.
Description
Keywords
Mine water management, South Africa, Mine water balance, Dissertation (M.Sc. (Institute for Groundwater Studies))--University of the Free State, 2019, Geohydrology