![]() He highlighted the environmental risk of tailings spilling out of ponds, and perhaps even out the boundaries of the mining lease area – an eventuality that mines work hard to avoid due to the stringent legal requirements. ![]() “It is therefore vital that they are operating optimally, and do not have their capacity constrained by excess silt.” And this will place an increased load on these ponds to contain more water than usual,” says Vine. “In many areas, this means that summer rains will include a higher number of heavy downpours within relatively short periods of time. Exacerbating the risk of insufficient water storage capacity is the widely held opinion that rainfall is becoming increasingly variable as a result of climate change factors. More sediment means less water storage capacity, which can affect the efficient running of the process plant as well as create a potential environmental hazard if heavy rainfall leads to tailings over-topping the pond. “Process water ponds therefore need to be carefully monitored and regularly dredged to prevent too much sediment from accumulating.” “Managing the water balance on mines is becoming more demanding as mines work to become more self-sufficient, and to draw less water from municipal sources,” says Lee Vine, managing director at dredging and dewatering specialist, Integrated Pump Rental. ![]() With the rainy season approaching in most of South Africa’s mining regions, monitoring the capacity of process water return ponds becomes increasingly critical – to monitor whether silt build-up is jeopardising the dams’ functioning. ![]()
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