Management and Mitigation of Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa: Input for Mineral Beneficiation in Africa

The book come at a time when key role players are battling to find solutions to a challenge of our time - Acid Mine Drainage. The editors of this book have been inspired by the Motto of the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War II which goes; “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer”. This book ascertains that there are three schools of thought regarding the acid mine drainage (AMD) challenge in South Africa and elsewhere. The first school of thought, is that which has resigned itself to fate. This position is based on the enormity of the challenge and the length of time over which the challenge has been allowed to manifest before intervention was initiated. The second school of thought is held by those who have hope that the problem can be managed, albeit with a considerable degree of difficulty. The third school comprises those that are energised to try (on a large scale) the various AMD remediation technologies and innovations brought to the fore by various research and development bodies. This book thus presents multifaceted potential channels for dealing with AMD challenges. I would recommend this book to readers destined to become influential in providing sustainable technological and management capabilities to address underground and surface water quality, policy framework and rethinking the long term risk in RSA.

1. Introduction
2. The Legacy of Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa
3. The Formation of Acid Mine Drainage
4. Impact of Acid Mine Drainage on Water Resources in South Africa
5. An Assessment of the Social Impact of Acid Mining Drainage on the West Rand, South Africa: Towards Responsive Mining and Sustainable Cities on the African Continent
6. AMD and the Mining Sector’s Contribution to the South African Economy
7. Strategic Planning and Sustainable Management of Acid Mine Drainage
8. Interrogating and Reviewing Legal and Policy Frameworks Governing: Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa
9. Mathematical Modelling in Acid Mine Drainage
10. The Role of Geospatial Technologies in Modelling Acid Mine Drainage: A Case Study of South Africa’s Tweelopiespruit
11. Financing Acid Mine Drainage Treatment in South Africa
12. Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Technologies
13. Acid Mine Drainage Bio-Remediation and Techniques: South African Perspective
14. Deriving Benefits from Acid Mine Drainage
15. Managing the Acid Mine Drainage Menace: The Way Forward