Coals mining an imperative necessity with environmental side effects like any other extraction and production process.

Coal mining is one of Africa’s most dependant features for the continents economy as a whole. This essay uncovers the controversial intriguing topic of coal mining and the effect it has on the environment through the implications of acid mine drainage.  From South Africa across the globe acid mine drainage is a complex environmental issue which has been highlighted and forgotten by the media.

Coal is a black graphite fossil fuel, which is composed by a variety of compounds originating from prehistoric vegetation and carbonized fibers that originally accumulated in swamps and peat bogs. (World Coal Association. 2012). Coal is categorized as a fuel that essentially means it is made up of energy. This energy comes from the process called photosynthesis. Millions of years ago plants would have absorbed energy from the sun and over time died. When decaying plants are unable to release the energy and this intern is favorable to coal formation.

According to the World Coal Association the first documented coal deposits were formed during the “ Carboniferous Period – known as the first coal age which was about 290 to 360 million years ago.”  During this time there were great changes in the earths formation. Movement in the earths crust and a build up of slit and other sediments buried swamps and peat blogs.  This development “caused physical and chemical changes in the vegetation, transforming it into pleat and then into coal. (Word Coal Association. 2012).

COAL...MINES...

With coal there is a variety of quality and type and this is based on a ranking system, which is determined by varying types of vegetation, the depth of the coal, temperatures and pressures at the depth and the length the coal has been forming in the site of deposit. Coalification is the change and process coal goes through as it matures. This is important, as it will determine the physical and chemical properties therefore ranking the coal in quality.  As well as this the ranking system is determined by the degree of transformation from the original plant material to carbon. The types of coal mined are based on the ranking system. Either highly ranked and therefore high in carbon and heat value but low in hydrogen and oxygen.

(Word Coal Association. 2012).

Mining is the process of extracting coal, minerals or natural resources. In correlation to this essay coal mining specifically is extracted from the earth in various ways. When deciding on mining coal a professional team decides on the mining method based on the geological coal deposit. Coal can be extracted through underground, surface or controversial methods.  Underground mining involves drilling a shaft down to the coal line. This process can be done by a room and pillar method, which involves leaving lines/pillars of coal to hold the mine roof in place. The longwall method uses hydraulic roof supports. Surface, open pit or strip mining is the removal of soil and rock from a designated area through explosions therefore exposing the coal near the surface. Once this is done the coal is removed through machinery and labor and transported to the permitted destination. Lastly controversial mining is an exclusive method where by the company blasts off mountaintops to reveal the coal. “Mountaintop removal practices are common in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia; areas in which some former mountains have been transformed into flat or rolling hill terrain.” (Green Peace. Mining Impacts. 15 April 2010).

THE BIG BOYS

Being a natural resource coal is extremely valuable to its owners. According to the World Coal Association over 6185 million tonnes of coal is currently being produced worldwide. The top mining countries are China, the USA, India, Australia, and South Africa. In most cases countries mine coal for personal usage leaving only a small percentage to export.   According to the International Energy Agency in 2010 South Africa was producing 225 million tonnes of coal.

Mining in South Africa is the cornerstone of the economy. There are a number of coalfields across South Africa. The main geographical sites are located in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape province. Most of the mines are developed around concentrated areas and towns such as Witbank, Ermelo, Waterberg, Highveld and Secunda. South Africa has a substantial amount of coal reserves, which are found at varying depths around the centre basin of the country. The industry sees both surface mining and underground mining exploiting the differentiated coal for specific purposes. The Witbank coalfield at present is the most important, bringing in large quantities of coal. However “South Africa has some 6000 derelict and ownerless mines,” Fourie said. “The problem is that more and more mines are coming near the end of their lives.”

(Radio Netherlands WorldWide Africa. Miriam Mannak. 10.02.12).

A few dominant private companies concentrate South Africa’s coal mining sector. These include Anglo America, Xstrata, BHP (Billiton Energy Coal South Africa), Sasol and Exxaro. Anglo America owns eight coalmines in South Africa in the Witbank area; some of these are Goedehoop, Greenside, Klienkopje and Landau. As well as this the company plans to invest in the Waterberg area. Xstrata has a mix of 13 underground mines and is considered the 3^rd largest company exporting coal out of South Africa. BHP is the largest coal exporter for South Africa. The company operates in Doglas, Khatala, Klipspruit and Middleburg which all fall into the Mpumalanga Province. BHP mainly exports to South America, Europe, Far East and parts of Africa. This company also has a large contract with Eskom, South Africa’s local utility company for electricity. Sasol are involved with coal mining mostly for petrochemical industries and the conversion of coal to liquids. The company has mines in the Highveld, and the North East of Secunda. Their mine Thubelisha is said to reach its full capacity by 2015 and hold a lifespan of 32 to 35 years. 

(Africa Mining Projects, Ederhand).

BENEFITS OF MINNING

The mining “sector accounts for roughly one third of the market capitalization of the JSE, and continues to act as a magnet for foreign investment in the country.”

(South Africa.info- 13.04.12). South Africa uses percentage of its coal harvesting to supply energy and electricity generation. As well as this the coal is used for petrochemical industries such as Sasol, for metallurgical industries such as Iscor and for domestic personal usage.

 Eskom is one of the world largest electricity producers. The electricity is generated through coal fire stations, which are located near most coal suppliers. Government owned Eskom dominates the South African power industry and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa regulates their prices. The power stations use unconventional pulverized coal technology with below average thermal efficiencies. In the past Eskom has relied on long-term contracts. However over time coal quality has been decreasing and most of these contracts have been exporting the higher-ranking coal leaving South Africa with poor quality. Which in tern has affected the production process as Eskom has found itself buying from smaller companies at smaller amounts. Therefore this also affected electricity prices.

In 2009, according to the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, the industry contributed:

•                8.8% directly, and another 10% indirectly, to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

•                Over 50% of merchandise exports, if secondary beneficiated mineral exports are counted.

•                About 1-million jobs (500 000 directly).

•                About 18% of gross investment (10% directly).

•                Approximately 30% of capital inflows into the economy via the financial account of the balance of payments.

•                93% of the country's electricity generating capacity.

•                About 30% of the country's liquid fuel supply.

•                Between 10% and 20% of direct corporate tax receipts (together worth R10.5-billion).

“In 2009, South Africa's mining industry was the largest contributor by value to black economic empowerment (BEE) in the economy, in terms of the value of BEE transactions completed.”  (South Africa.info - 13.04.12). 

O WELL..WE NEED IT!!!

However even though coal mining is a major necessity for South Africa and many parts of the world it does have a detrimental impact on the environment. Mining has a number of negative side effects, which in terms of the new ‘green’ trend have been highlighted and taken to the next extreme. Coal mining disturbs the geological formation of natural ecosystems and their processes. The establishment of mines in many places has also contributed to the relocation of whole town. This can be seen in Mozambique near Tete province. As well as this there is the on going battle of the Cradle of Man Kind in South Africa against mining companies. A group of mining companies intend to claim Magaliesburg and the heritage site.

The external pollution causes changes in aquatic life, the air quality in the surrounding area, erosion, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions therefore a contributor to ‘climate change’ and Acid Mine Drainage.

The current increasing environmental effect of coal mining is that of acid mine drainage. This topic has become a ‘hot’ discussion as more environmentalists are lobbing for mining companies to have and implement high safety regulations in regards to their labor and their impact on the environment. This essentially entails protecting the conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives and operates according to the discourses created. 

CHEMISTRY NIGHTMARE!!!!!!

CHEMICAL MAKE-UP

Pyrite Oxidation: 4 FeS₂ + 15 O₂ +14 H₂O 􀂼 4 Fe(OH)₃ (s) 􀂾 + 8 H₂SO₄ (1) 

Pyrite + Oxygen + Water 􀂼 Ferric Hydroxide + Sulfuric Acid 

Ferrous Oxidation: 4 Fe²⁺ + O₂ + 4 H⁺ 􀂼 4 Fe³⁺ + 2 H₂O (2) 

Ferrous Iron + Oxygen + Protons 􀂼 Ferric Iron + Water 

Iron Hydrolysis: 4 Fe³⁺ + 12 H₂O 􀂼 4 Fe(OH)₃(s) 􀂾 + 12 H⁺ (3) 

Ferric Iron +Water 􀂼 Ferric Hydroxide + Protons 

Additionally,

Pyrite Oxidation: FeS₂ + 14 Fe³⁺ + 8 H₂O 􀂼 15 Fe²⁺ + 2 SO₄^2- + 16 H⁺ (4) 

Pyrite + Ferric Iron + Water 􀂼 Ferrous Iron + Sulfate + Protons 

Acid Mine Drainage has proven to have significant environmental challenges as its roots stem from the process of mining certain natural resources. The mining process exposes iron sulfide and unremoved coal contained in sandstone. Therefore results in natural oxidation of the sulphide minerals being exposed to the atmosphere and water forming soluble hyrdous iron sulphates. The water acts as a medium for the transfer of oxidation to occur. As well as this there are forms of bacteria that contribute. The end results are yellow and white crystals that hold a low PH therefore highly acidic concentrations of metals and sulphates content around Ph 2.3 to 6.5. (Microbiology of fly acid mine drainage co-disposal process. Eloise M.R.Kuhn. November 2005).

(PERSPECTIVE)

Acid Mine drainage affects the surface and underground water systems while also impacting on land usage through agriculture.  The acidity and metal toxity has an obvious wide spread side effect impacting aquatic life and riverbeds far beyond the original source. As mentioned before the soluble deposits result in an orange reddish colour. This sedimentation occurs due to the precipitation of iron oxides and hydroxides. It is often called Ochre found at the bottom covering the riverbeds with fine silt therefore aquatic organisms can no longer feed. This is disruptive to the life cycle of animals and plants as in the environmental world everything is closely linked and therefore impacting on one another. Once in the river systems the acidic solubles (acid mine drainage) can be transported in the underground water systems or rivers nation wide. This rises the possibility of contaminating drinking water and reaching the river mouths and therefore having negative effects on marine life.   

(Acid Mine Drainage and its control. Pertha Das Sharma).

From the beginning mining has had an effect on the environment. The exploration of field surveys and research involves clearing of land and drilling which essentially has the risk of contributing to exposing high metal content. Once exposed these metals begin the process of oxidization and ultimately lead to acid mine drainage. On mine sites there are storage ponds from clearing the exploded soils, which in tern may become contaminated and then seep into the water systems. (Acid Mine Drainage and its control. Pertha Das Sharma). 

Pretty Little Facts...

“Many countries require reclamation plans for coal mining sites, undoing all the environmental damages to water supplies, destroyed habitats, and poor air quality is a long and problematic task. This land disturbance is on a vast scale. In the US, between 1930 and 2000, coal mining altered about 2.4 million hectares [5.9 million acres] of natural landscape, most of it originally forest. Attempts to re-seed land destroyed by coal mining is difficult because the mining process has so thoroughly damaged the soil. For example, in Montana, replanting projects had a success rate of only 20-30 percent, while in some places in Colorado only 10 percent of oak aspen seedlings that were planted survived.”(Green Peace. Mining Impacts. 15 April 2010).

There have been recent case studies document in Ohio America and in the past in Pennsylvania America. The university of Pennsylvania uncovers a case study based on acid mine drainage caused by abandoned mines. The Department of Environmental Protection in the US is now have to deal with the long and tedious rehabilitation of streams and rivers in the West Branch Schuylkill and Upper Schuylkill. (Tara Sadak. 4.1.08).

It is estimated that nearly 19, 300 kilometers of streams and rivers and 72,000 hectares of lakes have been polluted world wide through mining operations. This was documented in 2005. It is only imaginable how these figures must be today. As the media of breaking headlines “contaminated water world wide” shocked people and the outburst and trend to fix this has been phenomenal. (Johnson and Hallberg, 2005).

“In China, coal mining has degraded the quality of land of an estimated 3.2 million hectares, according to a 2004 estimate. The overall restoration rate (the ratio of reclaimed land area to the total degraded land area) of mine wasteland was only about 10–12 percent.”(Green Peace. Mining Impacts. 15 April 2010).

““Some of South Africa’s mineral-rich areas are home to the country’s most vulnerable communities.” said Mamphela Ramphele, chairperson of the gold-mining company Gold Fields and a director at mining conglomerate Anglo American, during the world’s largest mining investment conference Mining Indaba 2012, which took place from 6 to 9 February in Cape Town, South Africa. “A lot of firms say that the problems linked to mining are beyond their control. They should however realize and acknowledge that the extraction of minerals have hefty social costs“. Companies must own the problem and use their innovative power to find solutions. Sustainability should be one of their strategic imperatives and companies should contribute to development.”” (Radio Netherlands WorldWide Africa. Miriam Mannak. 10.02.12).

South Africa...the road ahead

However this being said 2011 saw some of the worst cases of acid mine drainage in South Africa. This year 2012 the country still has to deal with the effects and it is a long road ahead.

There are numerous reports documenting acid mine drainage in South Africa. In 2011 the Mail and Guardian online reported of the dangerous levels on radioactive and acid mine toxicity residue mine dumps in Gauteng near the Reef. Anthony Turton, a scientist said,  "There are at least 270 tailings dams on the Witwatersrand that will continue causing acid mine drainage for hundreds of years ". The effect of the water is not the only issue at hand as during the same time there were a considerable amount of families from informal settlements relocated. Informal settlements, including Bull Brand, Soul City and Baghdad, and an RDP housing settlement established close to Tudor Shaft all in the Witwatersrand area were considered danger zones.

(Mail and Guardian, Fiona Macleod, 04.03.11).

The question that needs to be asked is what was going on before acid mine drainage was even an issue? What living or toxic environment were those people living in? South Africa as mentioned depends on its mining sector, so why suddenly have legislations changed. When did people decide to notice? Now it’s too late the economy and mines of today have to pay the penalties of past mistakes.

The development of a concise plan to improve the environmental issue has to be commended. The South African Human Rights Commission managed to hold a workshop exploring the possibilities of a way forward. This team was a combination of non-government organizations, people living directly in the effected areas, engineers and scientists as well as senior officials from the Department of Water Affairs and Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority. (Earthlife.org. Rachel. 09.03.12)

From this event major issues were addressed. Starting with the “plans to remove most of the metals from the acid mine water not the sulphate salts. Discharging huge volumes of water with such a high salt load will severely impact our future water supplies, and affect natural ecosystems. The Department of Water Affairs already predict that by 2014 the Vaal River will have so much salt in it that it will have to be diluted with fresh water discharged from the Vaal Dam.”

(Earthlife.org. Rachel. 09.03.12)

Then on the political agenda the government of South Africa who never like to take the blame stated they inherited this so called acid mine drainage problem and out of political stance it is their human duty to take care of the issue.

The “Cabinet approved a report on acid mine water and the National Treasury put aside R433 million from this year's budget to deal with the issue. The team, headed by Marius Keet from the Department of Water Affairs, reported as part of a short and long term solution, installation of new water pumps at Rand Uranium shaft 8 were under way. The water will be treated and transferred through pipelines to the rivers. It identified priority areas, namely the Western, Central and Eastern basins. Work also began in December to upgrade the Rand Uranium plant that will treat up to 30 million liters of mine water a day.” (AllAfrica.com.22 March 2012).

According to Partha Das Sharma there are two types of treatment for acid mind water and drainage. These are active and passive processes. The active process is chemically based. The idea is to add chemicals to increase the Ph levels therefore causing the acid solubles to form insoluble complexes and precipitate. This technique is expensive and usually depends on the acidity the flow rate and the predicted outcome of the water. Limestone is most commonly used. The passive treatment is a more biological process, which takes time and is also expensive. This is more of a natural process. There are six different methods; Aerobic wetlands, Anaerobic wetlands, Alkalinity producing systems, Anoxic limestone dams, Limestone ponds and open limestone channels. (Acid Mine Drainage and its control. Partha Das Sharma).

Local Favorite...

Carte Blanche a local South African television program that discusses issues around the country caught onto the acid mine problem. In March 2011 the show spoke to Richard Doyle the managing director of Earth. His solution and perspective to the solution is somewhat different. The trend that Carte Blanch uncovered is that private companies were exploiting the issue of acid mine water to benefit sales of water purifiers and other similar technologies. Richard Doyle says that what differentiates their company is that they focus on the salt problem as well as purifying water. His company is “turning the salts into fertilizers and explosives and its attracting a lot of interest from overseas. What's best about his solutions thus far is that it creates it's own income and will not cost the taxpayer the money to fix the AMD problem.” (Carte Blanche. March 6^th 2011).

http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=4057&ShowId=1

Tshwane University...

Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria South Africa (TUT) sent a detailed proposal to the national research foundation. This was in correlation with TUT becoming the “research hub responsive to the challenges of the continent.” In 2007 TUT was already on board with two projects facing the challenges of developing technologies to neutralize and desalinate acid mine water. In this proposal TUT document on the benefits of finding a proper solution to acid mine water and implementing it. The way the documents solution is worded is more like a business adventure not an environmental clean up. The “benefits” of cleaning up a mess that is impacting not only the water and land but also putting human lives at stake.  These benefits include obviously a cleaner healthier environment, the health of the population, growth in the economy, job creation, commercial potential through the encouragement of entrepreneurs and therefore local and international investment potential. The whole proposal is structured more towards the monetary value of acid mine water than the actual problem. This is a problem not only South Africa holds but also it happens worldwide. There is no interest in solving a problem unless money is to be made from it or unless someone can benefit in some way or the other.

TUT’s primary focus was research on acid mine water treatment before it begins oxidization and impacting on a large scale. This aim is pretty pointless as already as illustrated South Africa is in a crisis with acid mine water and the instant reaction should be how to move forward and protect the land and the people of today and the future without causing detrimental costs in regards to the actual solution and the mining industry. This is a hard decision to make as the balance with the problem and the solution has many ripple effects on the prices of coal, water and any industries relating to these two vital natural commodities. The outcomes of the issues of the ‘multiply effect’ will be brought to light at the WISA conference held on the 5^th to the 9^th of may 2012 in Cape Town.

The second aim for TUT was to develop a desalination process. The university came up with a four strep plan.

“ 1. Encourage mining activities, to stimulate job creation. The pumping cost and dissolved solids content resulting from contact between water and ore strata should be offset by the value of the minerals mined, the treated water and dissolved by-products reclaimed from the mine water.

2. Implement limestone neutralization immediately for removal of free acid, iron and partial desalination. This should be combined with lime treatment for removal of toxic heavy metals and radioactivity, with the aim of protecting the environment, the health of humans and animals and as pre-treatment to desalination when the latter is implemented. In the case of Grootvlei Mine, water is already neutralized due to natural attenuation underground. Passive treatment should be investigated for removal of iron as an alternative to the current lime/aeration treatment.

3. Implement desalination of mine water to meet the expected demand for increased water resources by 2014. The most suitable technology should be selected using criteria based on capital and running costs, performance, process stability, and the nature of waste and brines generated that require disposal.

4. In areas where no further mining will take place, each basin must be investigated as to whether mine water should be allowed to fill underground voids to the decant level in order to prevent major leaching of the strata with which the water is in contact as a result of,

a. Dissolution of limestone/dolomite to its solubility level in fresh ingress water;

b. Pyrites oxidation as a result of ingress water passing through broken rock; and

c. Reciprocating contact of pyrites-rich ore with water and oxygen as the water level fluctuates from water being pumped out at a constant rate while the incoming water flow-rate fluctuates with seasonal rainfall. Alternatively, whether mine water should be pumped out to maintain the level at a certain depth with the aim of:

a. Allowing future mining and the protection of tourist sites.

b. Protecting ground water from being contaminated with acid mine water.

c. Providing flow-equalization storage areas in sub-surface voids to allow a constant feed rate to the treatment plant. Alternatively, such storage facilities (e.g. ponds) should be constructed on the surface.”  (South African Research Chairs Initiative. September 2011). 

Under construction....

The issue of acid mine drainage was constructed through petitions, legislations, solution initiatives, government influence and of course the media. News reports and mass communication bring environmental issues like acid mine drainage to the publics attention. However the articles or television reports are from a set perspective highlighting the growing dangers to ones health, or the impact on future costs or future of mining. In every case it is a debate over nature verses mans impact on the environment.

Acid mine drainage did not simply emerge the media has been used as a necessary tool too create concern in the public and political arena.  The process that acid mine drainage is an obvious problem stemmed from the discussions and talks through which the basic equation of problem solution comes in. Acid mine drainage is almost a combination of being constructed and announcing itself to the world. Yes it was an after affect because of mining however mining has been around for centuries and therefore the ‘environmental’ impact has come along with it.  As media developed and new trends began such as ‘climate change’ people have become more aware of their carbon footprints and emissions. This therefore goes to show that acid mine drainage will always be there with coalmines however with the new technologies we are able to manage it and move forward. Therefore it is no longer so important compared to the new issue at hand fracking in the karoo. 

References

• Carte Blanche March 6^th 2011 http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=4305&ShowId=1
•  Microbiology of fly ash-acid mine drainage co-disposal processes By Eloise M. R. Kuhn November 2005

• ·      Mining and minerals in South Africa Fri, 13 Apr 2012 : SouthAfrica.info
• ·      Mail and Guardian online: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Nov 05 2011 18:11: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-05-joburg-faces-threat-greater-than-acid-mine-drainage
• ·      Mail and Guardian online: FIONA MACLEOD - Mar 04 2011 13:02 http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-04-reef-chernobyl-will-cost-billions
• ·      Campaigner Against Dangers Of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) Agrees With Local Environmentalist By Cynthia Dreyer MadibengPulse 30^th May 2011.
• ·      Enviroment, Tuesday 28^th June 2011: www.buanews.goz.za
• ·      Acid Mine Drainage Pollution in the West Branch Schuylkill and Upper Schuylkill River, Schuylkill County Pennsylvania: A Case Study and Recommendations for the Future. Tara Sadak University of Pennsylvania. 4^th January 2008.
• ·      Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and its control Author: Partha Das Sharma (B.Tech-Hons., in Mining Engineering)
• ·      Environmental Literacy Council : Dawn Anderson and Erica Brehmer. http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1122.html
• ·      World Coal Association: http://www.worldcoal.org/coal-the-environment/coal-mining-the-environment/
• ·      Fin24: Mining rights seriously diluted, Dewald van Rensburg, Apr 15 2012 11:58: http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-rights-seriously-diluted-
• ·      Fin24 : Ecological mine disaster expected, Jan de Lange, Apr 01 2012 10:14 http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/Ecological-mine-disaster-expected-20120401
• ·      Radio Netherlands Worldwide Africa: By Miriam Mannak, Cape Town: Published on: 10 February 2012 - 12:45pm http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/south-africa’s-mines-threaten-environment
• ·      All Africa, Molewa Outlines Progress on Acid Mine Drainage, 22 MARCH 2012,  http://allafrica.com/stories/201203230036.html

• ·       Western Cape IWRM Action Plan: Status Quo Report Final Draft,   http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/CityReports/Documents/Informal%20Settlements/Main_Report_2722006113759_359.pdf
• ·      GeoFacts, Ohio Department of natural recourse. Division of Geological Survey, by Douglas L. Cowall, March 2002, www.ohiogeology.com
• ·      The future of South African coal: market, investment and policy challenges by Anton Eberhad, January 2011, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development.
• ·       Coal deposits of South Africa – the future of coal mining in South Africa by Stephan Schmidt. Institute for Geology, Gustau-Zeuner.