Post-Conference Technical Tours
Two optional full-day post-conference tours are offered on Friday 23 October, the day following the conference. The cost of R750 per person (excluding VAT) includes bus transport, guided tour(s), lunch and refreshments. Participants wishing to go on the excursion to the Kruger National Park are advised to book onto Tour 1 below. Please indicate your interest on the Registration Form.
Tour 1 : eMalahleni Mine Water Reclamation Plant & Middelburg Mine Passive Mine Water Treatment Plant
Maximum 40 people, on a first-come-first-served basis.
The eMalahleni Mine Water Reclamation Plant was originally established as a R300-million joint initiative between global resources companies Anglo Coal South Africa and BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (Becsa). This plant treats polluted mine water from underground workings to deliver potable and process water to the eMalahleni Municipality and surrounding mining operations. The project, which was commissioned in 2007, desalinates rising underground water from Anglo Coal’s Landau, Greenside and Kleinkopje Collieries, as well as from Becsa’s defunct South Witbank Mine. It prevents polluted mine water from decanting into the environment and the local river system, whilst also easing severe operational and safety challenges. The plant produces on average, over 24-million litres of potable-quality water a day, with a 99,4% water recovery in the plant. Anglo Coal has embarked on phase II of the eMalahleni plant, which will see the facility upgraded to desalinate 50-million litres of water a day. This phase should be completed by mid-2010.
This plant is a state-of-the-art active mine water treatment plant that incorporates physico-chemical pre-treatment, reverse osmosis desalination with extremely high water recoveries achieved through innovative process design, with the benefit of minimising the volumes of brines and sludges to be managed and disposed of. This is a fully integrated modern water treatment plant that converts highly contaminated mine water to potable water for human consumption. The site visit will include an overview of the process design and construction phases, together with a tour through the actual operating plant.
The Middelburg Mine Passive Mine Water Treatment Plant is the first full-scale demonstration plant of the passive high-rate sulphate removal technology developed in South Africa and is being commissioned in mid 2009. This plant incorporates the novel Degrading Packed Bed Reactor (DPBR) high rate sulphate reducing reactor in a single 200 m3/day reactor. The plant also incorporates a 20 m3/day experimental level pilot scale passive sulphide oxidation reactor which converts the reduced sulphides from the DPBR to elemental sulphur. Further downstream reactors include a secondary sulphate reducing reactor, an oxidation cascade and an aerobic wetland – all at the 20 m3/day pilot scale.
This plant is based on the technologies that have been developed over a 15 year research programme in South Africa and represents a world-first in terms of high-rate sulphate removal technology. The plant and the assessment programme at Middelburg mine is being jointly funded by BHP Billiton’s Middelburg Mine and Coaltech 2020 – a collaborative research programme funded by South Africa’s major coal mining companies.
Delegates booked onto this tour who plan on going onto the Kruger National Park, will meet up with the bus coming from Pretoria at The Ridge Casino near Witbank in the mid-afternoon.
Tour 2 : Eland Platinum Mine, Xstrata Alloys (north west of Pretoria)
The mine is situated 40 km from Pretoria. The geological formation mined is the Upper Group 2 and forms part of the well-known Rustenburg Layer Suite. Currently the mine operates as an open pit mine with initial portal development for the underground mine. Ore is concentrated on-site and transported off-site to a smelter facility.
From a mine water management perspective, the Mine originally required some 3 million m3/annum of raw water, however, as a result of effective management in 2008 this was reduced to 40% of the original requirement. During the next three years the Mine intends to reduce raw water uptake to almost zero. Policies, strategies and guidelines from the Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) form the basis of the Mine’s Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWMMP) and sub-plans embedded in the IWWMP include the following:
• Effective monitoring, real-time simulation and management
• Water harvesting, aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) and re-cycle
• Zero discharge plan (ZDP)
• Effective and implemented storm water management
The tour will include a presentation on the mining activities and discussions pertaining to water management followed by a site tour. Participants are invited to join mine management for a traditional South African braai (barbecue) at the Lapa Dam after the tour.
