Abstract
M.Sc.
Gold mining, as a human activity, has traditionally always impacted negatively on the
environment. Some of the impacts of gold mining include pollution of surface water
by arsenic, manganese and heavy metals. Facilities used in gold mining during the
processing of ore to extract gold, tailings facilities, settlement ponds and waste rock
dumps cause impacts such as air pollution by dust and acid mine drainage. Some of
the consequences of these gold mining activities on the environment include the
generation of dust as well as the pollution of surface and groundwater. The leakages
and spillages from tailings (residue left from the extraction of gold from the ore using
various chemicals such as cyanide and arsenic) facilities have caused environmental
impacts by introducing chemical pollutants to surface water, underground water and
soil (Actionaid, 2005).
One of the lesser known or considered impacts influencing the environment in the
mining field is the use of petroleum products. The use of petroleum products such as
petrol, oil and diesel in gold mining is also one of the activities, which, if not carefully
managed, impacts negatively on the environment.
The main aim of the research was to identify the impacts associated with the use of
petroleum products on the Driefontein Gold Mine and to identify remediation
measures that can be used to minimize or mitigate impacts on the environment. This
also involves the development of recommendations for the Use of Petroleum Products
at Driefontein Gold Mine that will help the mine in mitigating existing impacts and
thus prevent the recurrence of the negative impacts to the environment that are
associated with the use of petroleum products.
The records from the Mine Stores were used to determine areas in the mine where a
higher usage of petroleum products was recorded. Based on this, the aspect registers
of the identified areas were used in order to identify the aspects or activities relating
to the use of petroleum products.
All the products purchased and consumed for a period of a year were recorded from
the Mine Stores and a pedestrian survey was conducted on the areas of usage. A
pedestrian survey was conducted in the identified areas in order to determine how
these products can be used to determine visual signs of contamination from petroleum
products. Using this methodology, petroleum stained areas were observed visually on
the mine and mapped.