Modern Mining March 2025

degradation of the environment and to make an area safe, has resulted in the proliferation of illegal mining.” Examples of mines that were liquidated and where the DMRE did not implement Sections 45 and 46 of the MPRDA, are the Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mining Company within the Far West Rand; Siva Mining within the Klerksdorp/Orkney/Stillfontein, Hartbeestfontein area; Mintails within the West Rand; Central Rand Gold within the Central Rand. “This has resulted in an explosion of illegal mining and has added significant risks to communities.” Operation Vala Umgodi However, the good news is that under Operation Vala Umgodi , South African authorities have, since December 2023, been trying to disrupt the illicit gold mining economy by cutting off water, food and other supplies to the miners working underground. A case in point is the Stilfontein saga, which saw police first descend on the abandoned Buffelsfontein Gold Mine in August 2024 as part of Operation Vala Umgodi . Over the past months, the operation has led to numerous arrests and efforts to dismantle underground mining networks. Since October 2024, more than 1 000 miners have resurfaced from the abandoned Buffelsfontein mine. In more good news, the DMRE, in collaboration with Mintek, recently sealed off open shafts by backfilling the entrances to the shaft with concrete within the Rivelea area with the express aim of preventing illegal miners access to the underground workings. According to Liefferink, the costs for the sealing the open pits were paid from Treasury and not – as would be expected - from the rehabilitation funds from Central Rand Gold, the liquidated mining company responsible for the open pits. “The Riverlea Community has alleged that although the open shafts were sealed, the area was not rehabilitated. A subsequent challenge that has followed, is that illegal miners have reopened some of these sealed shafts and accessed underground workings through the shafts and open pits.” Risks associated with derelict and ownerless mines The Council of Geoscience has ranked derelict and ownerless mines according to their environmental risk. The aim of the ranking exercise was to identify priority sites for rehabilitation. The clusters of mines identified as posing a high environmental risk are:

Illegal miners using open shafts that were abandoned following Mintails’ liquidation.

All gold mines from the Free State to Evander Gold mines related to the greenstone belts of Mpumalanga Gold mines related to greenstone belts in Limpopo Province All asbestos mines The copper mines in the Springbok area Pegmatites in Northern Namaqualand

High environmental risks due to uranium

High risks due to arsenic

High risks due to the presence of antimony and in some cases, mercury

Illegal miners mining within the West Rand following the liquidation of Mintails.

Water related risks due to the presence of bismuth

require urgent environmental rehabilitation. “Failure by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy to direct the Regional Manager of Mineral Resources and Energy to take the necessary measure to prevent pollution or ecological

Risk are primarily due to radioactive components or bismuth

MARCH 2025 | www.modernminingmagazine.co.za  MODERN MINING  31