Mineral waste: the required governance environment to enable re-use

Abstract

This report presents the findings of research conducted by the CSIR. This research was prompted by the Princess dump case study, a project conducted by then the CSIR Miningtek. The report aims to unpack the current governance (legal and institutional) environment in which mineral waste is being managed, and the opportunities and constraints to mineral waste reuse in South Africa. The intention of this report is to provide insight into the current challenges facing the sustainable management of mineral waste in South Africa. While the emphasis of this report is on mineral waste from the gold mining sector, the report addresses mineral waste in general, since many of the identified opportunities and challenges are not unique to gold mining. The learning from this project can therefore be taken forward into understanding the waste reuse opportunities from other mining sectors. Section 2 of the report provides an overview of the current problems regarding mineral waste reuse, Section 3 provides insight into the definition of mining and mineral waste, while Section 4 gives the status quo regarding mineral waste generation and disposal in South Africa. Section 5 explores the technical reuse opportunities for mineral waste and outlines the opportunities and challenges facing reuse. The governance aspects of which are expanded upon in Section 6 and the economic and liability issues in Sections 7 and 8 respectively.