Residents living near sinking ground
The residents of Mgewane are living in fear because of the sinking ground near their homes.
This is the result of the underground mining.
The sinking ground has been happening for a long time and their houses are cracking because of the sinking ground. Recently the ground has showed cracked lines in the nearby forest. Some of the cracks have appeared in their yards.
Community leader Mr Andrew Silarela said the sinking ground and cracks started way back in 1999 and it has been happening for all these years. They have now developed a working relationship with BHP Billiton, as it is their mining area.
Recently a whole block of hostel sank in o the ground and the mine helped in closing the big hole. A lorry, which had came to deliver coal nearly sunk to the ground; houses in the nearby area were affected.
Mr Silarela confirmed that four homes have already been moved to Klarinet and plans to move the others houses have already started. Municipalities, the residents and the mine are involved in the whole program.
The residents have other problems of nearby stagnant water too, which the children from the nearby pre-school use, as a playground. The residents are concerned about the safety of the children.
According to information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, shaft sinking refers to the general activity, however shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects differ greatly in execution method from deep shafts, typically sunk for mining projects. When the top of the excavation is the ground surface, it is referred to as a shaft; when the top of the excavation is underground, it is called a winze or a sub-shaft. Small shafts may be excavated upwards from within an existing mine as long as there is access at the bottom, in which case they are called Raises.
A shaft may be either vertical or inclined although most modern mine shafts are vertical. If access exists at the bottom of the proposed shaft and ground conditions allow it, then raise boring may be used to excavate the shaft from the bottom up, such shafts are called borehole shaft.
Shaft sinking is one of the most difficult of all development methods, restricted space, gravity, groundwater and specialised precedures make the task quite formidable.
Historically mine shaft sinking has been among the most dangerous of all mining occupations and the preserve of mining contractors. Today shaft sinking contractors are concentrated in Canada and South Africa.
