ALBERT

Description: Hlobane Colliery, located in the Vryheid Coalfields of South Africa, is to close down its operations after more than a century of mining activities. This paper presents a review of the assessments that were undertaken in order to determine the long-term water quality risks after mine closure and evaluate the effects of various water management actions thereon. An integrated assessment approach was adopted that incorporated hydrological, hydrogeological, mineralogical and geochemical assessment, and modelling techniques to predict the volumes and qualities of water discharging from various points on the mine for the base case situation where no water management options were implemented. Various water management options were identified that are primarily aimed at preventing the contamination of clean water, and the effects of these strategies were predicted and compared with the base case situation in order to provide a rational basis for the selection of the most appropriate strategies.