South Africa's challenges pertaining to mine closure-the problem of abandoned and derelict mines in the Mpumalanga coalfields

摘要

The long history of mining in South Africa has left a legacy of around six thousand abandoned mines scattered around the entire country. Many of these mines are situated in the Mpumalanga coalfields. Mining commenced at the turn of the previous century, initially with little environmental degradation associated with the mainly board and pillar mining method of the time. However, subsidence occurred due to pillars or strata floor collapsing, sometimes decades after mining ceased. Subsidence causes damage to surface infrastructure and interferes with the drainage of surface water and may also impact aquifers.