Abstract
Due to many abandoned mines that are not rehabilitated, there will be illegal mining. Although the mining industry and government continue to prevent illegal gold mining in abandoned mines by sealing open shafts, it is not possible to close all the shafts at once due to limited resources. Furthermore, after sealing the shafts, illegal miners often create alternative openings to enter underground workings while little or nothing is being done to stop the surface illegal gold mining. As long as illegal gold mining is there, disasters associated with illegal mining are prevalent. Effective disaster preparedness and response requires a competent strategy. The purpose of this study was to develop a strategy that can be used for emergency preparation and rescue efforts associated with disasters caused by abandoned mines and illegal gold mining. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were held with officials and experts on disaster management from the Council for Geoscience and the City of Ekurhuleni. This study indicates that the safety of illegal miners and communities near abandoned mines depends on several factors including the ability to identify and respond to a disaster. The study identified three interlinked themes within the report as strategies for dealing with disasters related to abandoned mines and illegal gold mining. These themes included emergency countermeasures and short-term measures, roles and responsibilities and communication. These interlinked themes should be validated through further research that involves input from the national disaster response community at large. This study will serve as a model that can be implemented in other areas impacted by illegal mining in South Africa.
Highlights
South Africa has a long history of mining
The emergency countermeasures and short-term measures theme emerged as the semi-structured interviews discussed the strategies to deal with the challenges of disasters related to abandoned mines and illegal gold mining
The results indicate the lack of documented emergency countermeasures at both municipal and national levels to deal with emergency cases related to illegal gold mining at abandoned mines
Summary
South Africa has a long history of mining. there are less than 2000 operating mines and close to 6000 abandoned mines in South Africa. South Africa is facing enormous financial, environmental and social challenges posed by abandoned mines (Matshusa & Makgae 2014; Cornelissen et al 2019). Despite its importance as an economic activity and livelihood strategy in sub-Saharan Africa, illegal mining referred to as artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is associated with many negative social, environmental and health impacts and presents particular sustainable development challenges (Collins & Lawson 2018; Kambani 2003; Lynas, Logrosa & Fawcett 2018). Abandoned mines have resulted in soil pollution, air pollution through wind-blown dust from waste dumps, acid mine drainage (AMD) that contaminates drinking water for humans, unstable grounds and death of humans due to falling into dangerous mine openings and inhalation of dangerous gases (Matshusa & Makgae 2014; Liu et al 2021; Salom & Kivinen 2020)
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