Page 83 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014
P. 83
s a i c e
MPUMALANGA PROVINCE
9. Coal mining in this province has been around
for many years, but an energy-hungry South Africa and
the world has literally turned this province upside down.
The huge strip mining operations are in fact mammoth
civil engineering earthmoving activities to get at the
shallow coal seams and once these are scooped out
replace the rock and soil. Environmental concerns are
enormous but much is being done to return the land-
scape to what it was to sustain the original agriculture
again. Small rivers have been diverted and many dams
and pipelines up to three metres in diameter convey
water to supply the enormous coal-fired power sta- ◊ Coal mine
tions.
almost 2 km in diameter and about 900 m deep which
10. Phalaborwa mines are not strictly civil en- means that it is already 400 m below sea level. It sup-
gineering, but a most interesting place which is in es- plies the bulk of South Africa’s copper and about 50%
sence a giant earth moving operation. The open pit is of the world’s vermiculite.
1
