Vandu owns up to blast

“We apologise for the blast and visited homes of residents to determine the extent of damage, if it was caused by our blast,” said Mr Phillip de Lange, project manager of Vandu Mining.
The blast on Tuesday, March 31 shook houses and buildings. It was felt as far as Model Park.
Vandu Mining is busy mining behind Jackaroo Park. They are taking out coal that is sold locally.

There was little activity when WITBANK NEWS visited the site on Monday, April 13.
De Lange said he stopped all operations on the site, which is adjacent to Jackaroo Park.
“We are putting up three seismographs,” he offered a solution.
Seismographs are used in monitoring earthquakes.
He said the three seismographs will be compared to make sure the company complies with all legislation
“We will monitor and assess the blast performances and reduce blast vibrations,” De Lange said.
He said they visited the houses of residents in Jackaroo Park who complained of their houses cracking after the blast.
“I have taken photos and will closely monitor the process of compensating homeowners for damage if it can be proved it was as a result of the blast on March 31.”

De Lange said after they have taken out the coal on the portion they have permits for, they will rehabilitate the ground. He explained that they fill up the open ground with clay and sand before putting on topsoil.
“Filling up the site with clay and sand, will help in the fight against acid main water seeping through. It will not happen overnight, but once we are done with rehabilitation it sure will form a buffer between the acid mine water and the suburb,” De Lange said.
Acid mine drainage has been a huge headache for residents in the Jackaroo Park area.

This headache was inherited after old mines were abandoned and never rehabilitated.
eMalahleni was established in 1890 to mine coal deposits located in the vicinity. This became feasible after 1894, with the construction of a railway line to Pretoria. This has been the building blocks for the city as it stands today.
When the Earth Observation for Monitoring and Observing Environmental and Societal Impacts of Mineral Resources Exploration and Exploitation group, in short called the EO-Miners visited Emalahleni and in 2013 and made their findings known, everyone was up in arms about the environmental footprints left behind.

It was during the project that the Council for Geoscience identified a total of 209 abandoned mines in this catchment, including 118 coal mines.
The major direct environmental and societal impacts of mining have been due to land degradation and water pollution. Old underground mine workings have collapsed in places, leaving large areas pockmarked with sinkholes. In some cases these workings have undergone spontaneous combustion, leading to physical hazards as well as contributing to air pollution. Coal discard dumps and abandoned mining infrastructure also render land unfit for productive use.
“Water pollution sources in the mining areas include operating, closed and abandoned mines, with acid mine drainage and related metal contamination forming the most important problems. Important sulphide bearing materials which can lead to the formation of acid mine drainage include the coal and discarded material and some of the overburden materials used in the rehabilitation of more modern open-pit operations,” were strong statements set out in the EO-Miners report.

WITBANK NEWS is busy investigating other mining activities in the Jackaroo Park area. If you have more information about mines not adhering to set rules and regulations as set out by the Department of Mineral resources e-mail zita@witbanknews.co.za.

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