Modern Quarrying Q1 2020

ON PHOTO: AFRISAM’S JUKSKEI QUARRY

M ining at Jukskei quarry commenced in the late 50s, with the operation initially called Hippo Quarries. When first established, the quarry was well outside any built up area, but today, due to rapid urbanisation in its vicinity, the operation finds itself at the heart of a thriving urban area anchored by the one of the largest mixed-use property development South Africa has ever seen, Waterfall City – and is worth R16-billion. In recent years, the area has been a strategic hub for commercial building, along with complementary civil construction activity. To give an idea, just opposite the quarry, the Waterfall mixed development has already attracted some major projects, and one that quickly comes to mind is the R4,1-billion Mall of Africa, the continent’s largest shopping centre to be built in one go. Waterfall development encompasses 2 200 hectares of land. It’s larger than Sandton and stretches from Woodmead to Kyalami and Vorna Valley, abutted in part by the suburbs of Buccleuch and Sunninghill. The residential area is partially developed and will, on completion, have up to 18 500 units. It is predicted that the development will have an economic impact of about R106-billion on its completion in 2023. quarries. While rapid urbanisation in the vicinity has changed the fortunes of the quarry, AfriSam has had to deal with new environmental aspects, which have been addressed through an array of initiatives, writes Munesu Shoko . ADJUSTING TO A NEW LOCALITY Considered in the 1960s to be far flung from any meaningful construction activity, even to a point of possible closure in the 1990 s due to low sales volumes, today Jukskei quarry finds itself in the middle of a booming urban area and has become one of AfriSam’s busiest aggregate

MODULAR PLANTS AT THE QUARRY FACE

While all the urbanisation has boosted the quarry’s business over the years to become one of the busiest operations among AfriSam’s 17 aggregate quarries, it has also meant that the operation now finds itself bordered by a built up area, with a business park to the north and a Baldwin property to the south. With new neighbours, some of them only 250 m away, management has carefully managed the transition and the environmental aspects that come with the new setting. Managing the environmental aspects With the quarry’s close proximity to a built up area, there are various environmental concerns including land dis- turbance, noise, ground vibrations and emission of dust arising from movement of machinery and blasting activities. When Modern Quarrying visited the quarry at the end of 2019, AfriSam had responded to these possible environ- mental concerns with a number of initiatives. To mitigate excessive dust emission, a water spraying system has been installed along the main haul roads on the quarry. “The system ensures that we don’t generate excessive dust when maintaining haul roads or hauling material from one area to the other,” explains Zielas du Preez, regional manager for AfriSam Aggregates. He adds

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 1 - 2020