The Seringveld Conservancy is situated near Cullinan in an area is that is characterised by deep sandy soils. Sand mining for the building industry has become a major threat to the biodiversity of the area. The flora of the Conservancy is best described as a gradual ecotone between the grassland and savanna biomes. The fist objective of the study is to describe the vegetation of the Seringveld Conservancy, in terms of plant communities, plant species composition, habitat as well as composing a vegetation map of the area. The second objective of the study is more theoretical and is aimed at providing a definition for savannas as well as shedding light on the complexity of South African savannas and there underlying driving forces. The Braun-Blanquet approach was used for sampling and 125 relevés were compiled. The data was captured using TURBOVEG and data analysis followed in JUICE 7.0. A total of 376 species was recorded in the area. Analysis from JUICE resulted in a TWINSPAN dendogram, synoptic table and two phytosociological tables. The phytosociological tables obtained from JUICE were refined using Braun-Blanquet procedures. Ten main plant communities and two sub-communities were identified. Each plant community was described in terms of species composition, dominant species and diagnostic species, and ecologically interpreted in terms of habitat characteristics. The plant communities were also compared to communities found in other studies in close proximity of the Seringveld i.e. Ezemvelo Nature Reserve. ArcGIS was used to create various maps further highlighting the uniqueness of the area. A vegetation map indicating the distribution of the plant communities was compiled. The combined results of the phytosociological tables as well as the GIS maps indicate that the Seringveld Conservancy is a complex area containing high biodiversity. Trying to define savanna is related to scale. The study area is considered to be savanna at local scale, this study will refer to savanna as a vegetation type with a well developed grassy layer and an upper layer of woody plants, which can vary from widely spaced to 75 percent tree cover. There is a gradient present between equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics in savanna ecosystems of southern Africa. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Plant Science / unrestricted

The landscape, industrial machine and human endeavour needs to be reconciled in Cullinan. The newly proposed group framework aims to do this by focussing on four nodes along a circular route which follows the circumference of the scar in the landscape. It is suggested that the once the mine (currently the only livelihood of the town) closes that a multi scalar network of craft industries, educational facilities, tourist attractions and agriculture would continue to support the town. This network doesn’t just rely on one method on one scale, as the mine did, ensuring a more resilient support system Ernstson, van der Leeuw, Redman, Meffert, Davis, Alfsen & Elmqvist 2010). In this scheme, located at the soon to be closed No.1 shaft and headgear, it is proposed that if a resilient connection between town, users and landscape needs to be established by diversity of program, it might be necessary to also investigate a diverse generation of building form which reinforces this idea. Gelernter (1995) identified five core theories on the generation of form. It is argued that the influences on form within these theories are either generated by the object (nature) or the subject (the mind). The generators of form found within the extant fabric of the study area was found to be mainly generated by influences from the physical world, thus if a diversity of form generation needs to be established, a form that was generated by intuition and links the emotions and mind of the user needs to be investigated within the design. Following this, Romantic theories relating to the backlash to pure rationality is tapped into together with an understanding of the influence of the sublime on the mind of the user, and the emotional link it creates between the subject and object is used in the design and process. These theories have influence on the creation of spaces, form, and the relation to extant fabric in the new building. The concept uses and adapts sublime elements in the landscape and in the industrial machine to establish this emotional link. Although program is not the main design generator of this project, it cannot be ignored and a bakery and baking school, and mill is proposed, as presents us with aspects that can be tapped into to enhance the experience of spaces as well as linking into all of the proposed networks of resilience as mentioned before. The concept is drawn through into the technical exploration of the building, where the form is seen as a threshold between rationality and the sublime. Rational construction is decayed from the extant fabric into the landscape where natural materials are used more in the construction, and the structure is not as evident as before. This enhances the existing sublime elements of the site and strengthens the above mentioned emotional link between man and nature. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

This dissertation focuses on the redevelopment of the No. II Shaft Cullinan Compound, which lies in ruins. The compound is located at the Cullinan Diamond Mine, 40km east of the Pretoria CBD. The No. II Shaft Compound was used to house the enormous migrant workforce during the middle to late 1900s. It was closed down in 1973. In its derelict state it does not do justice to the memory of the workers who had to endure the hardships of the harsh working and living regime of the mine. This dissertation advocates that meaning and significance are achieved in landscape design through the use of landscape narrative. The author argues that meaning neither resides in the landscape itself nor with the creator but with the mediation between user, the landscape and its elements. The design intervention celebrates the unique historical significance of the compound system in general and specifically that of the No. II Shaft Cullinan Compound. The landscape design aims at integrating and maintaining all layers of history – that which was, what is and what potentially can be. The design intervention celebrates the unique industrial heritage of the Cullinan No. II Shaft Compound through a process of heritage preservation, representation and integration with its surrounding context. This dissertation aims at establishing a method of communicating the story of the workers who lived, worked and died in the compound. The project designs a landscape narrative experience where the story of the workers of the compound is communicated to users when they visit the site. Communication of narrative is achieved through the use of landscape design mechanisms, like semiotics, metaphor and landscape rhetoric. The design approaches the site as one of cultural and historical significance. The intervention acts as a mediator between the workers and history of the site, and the new contemporary layer of production and research. The final stage of the design investigates the technical resolution of the design proposal. / Dissertation (ML(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Architecture / ML(Prof) / Unrestricted

Mamelodi Quarries, which currently mine the Franspoort nepheline syenite, produces aggregate and crusher sand for the local building industry. The mine is located northeast of Pretoria, South Africa on the road to Cullinan. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of the Franspoort nepheline syenite as an alumina and alkali resource for the glass and ceramics industry at Mamelodi Quarries, and to evaluate the production of a concentrate of zircon and rare earth elements as economic by-products. International standards require a nepheline product with a ferric oxide content of less than 0.35 weight percent. The Franspoort nepheline syenite contains 3.37 weight percent of ferric oxide. The iron-containing minerals present are aegirine, aegirine-augite, magnetite, ilmenite and pyrite. The removal of iron-bearing minerals was attempted by high-intensity wet magnetic separation, low-intensity dry magnetic separation, spiral gravity separation, and heavy liquid separation to produce a saleable nepheline product. This product is the cleaned final concentrate, of the different separation tests, which contains the lowest iron concentration for application in the glass and ceramic industry. The mineral assemblage was determined with a petrographic study as well as X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analyses. Material from the different separation tests was analysed with X-ray fluorescence to obtain the chemical composition and to evaluate the final iron content of the nepheline product. The dry magnetic separation method produced the best results. The nepheline product has a ferric oxide content of 0.68 weight percent compared to the starting concentration of 3.37 weight percent. The ferric oxide concentration is, however, above the accepted levels for the glass and ceramics industry. The ferric oxide content is attributed to small iron-rich mineral inclusions, which are locked in feldspar and nepheline. The final nepheline product is not suitable for the use in the glass and ceramic industry. Zircon was concentrated the best by the use of heavy liquid separation. Zircon is in most cases locked in the minerals albite, microcline, and nepheline. The rare earth elements are mostly associated with zircon and fluorite and therefore it will not be viable to produce it as a by-product. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Geology / unrestricted

This dissertation will focus on revitalizing and adapting an abandoned mining Compound on the outskirts of Cullinan. Through this journey of uncovering and understanding this lost, abandoned and deteriorating site, one starts to fall in love with the beauty of these ruins within an unrestricted landscape, where the natural has started infiltrating into all areas of this site. It starts to evoke emotions of a romantic lost time although this is not the case. This environment has lost its identity of a harsh working lifestyle where many of the workers died in extremely uncomfortable and inhuman conditions. Uncovering this intangible narrative of the past has led to the idea of contrasting these two very different conditions, the harsh past environment with the vision of a new productive landscape where there is an opportunity for healing. Healing through exposing and appreciating the past; healing the people of Cullinan by providing new skill and opportunities during this decommissioning transition and healing this abandoned and neglected land. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

South Africa’s shameful migrant labor policies of the past have left a socioeconomic mark on the families of millions. The ruin in the garden has long been a fascination of many artists and poets, but in the case of an abandoned compound complex alongside Cullinan’s diamond mine, the author is left unsettled with the thought of the romanticisation of the compound falling to ruins. The anesthesia has to stop at some point. Nature and time have acted upon the compound and has allowed for a large amount to be erased from the publics’ greater memories, (partly due to its inherent isolation and its inaccessibility to the public). Nature is only doing what it knows best - to carry on and heal. The convoluted question needs to be asked, when does it become necessary for human influence to occur and stop a natural process of decay, especially in question of preserving tangible heritage? In Skelton’s poem, it is suggested that the place is ‘filled with music”. This dissertation will attempt the opposite; to fill a place with silences so as to expose and reveal the narrative of the hardships endured to the lives of so many before us. The proposed intervention manifests as a meeting point between nature and the memory embedded in the site, and allows for mediation between healing, adaptive reuse and memorialization. A dialogue must be formed between what is ruin, the new condition and its relation to the wild nature of the Highveld as well as the new introduced vegetation for consumption and research. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Security Management)

Water quality and space constraints have become major concerns regarding the No. 7 waste water dam at Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine. The unique location of the dam constrains further development, while unsustainable accumulation of waste water inside the dam increases the risk of potential environmental contamination from seepages and spillages. The dam retains a significant amount of very poor quality water. Its excessively high pH, dissolved salt content, density and extreme turbidity result from the concentration of natural weathering products of the diamond bearing kimberlite ore. The turbidity results from the dispersion of colloidal chlorite, saponite and nontronite clay. Along with the chemistry of the solution, their colloidal shape contributes equally significantly to the non-settlement of these suspended clays. Flocculation of the dispersed clay particles will provide (a) for easy and effective separation of the clay material from the waste water and (b) more convenient options for water treatment (and subsequent redistribution) This study was aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the dynamic interactions in the No 7 Dam system to contribute towards identifying a suitable means/method for chemical flocculation of the clay particles. The individual components of the system (clays, water quality) and influx contributors (kimberlite and its leachate) were systematically characterized by means of X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence, petrographic microscopy, electron microscopy, electrophoretic mobility and standard water- and soil quality analyses. The baseline quality of the Cullinan kimberlite leachate was obtained based on ASTM D5744 principles. It was found that adjusting the pH-level and ionic strength of the waste water to the critical coagulation point (cK) (as determined by electrophoretic mobility and batch jar experiments) automatically induced coagulation. Higher valence cations were displaced from pH dependent surface charge sites by proton adsorption. The resultant increased ionic strength, in combination with decreased thickness of the ionic double layer, was sufficient for the automatic initiation of high strength disordered face-face and edge-face bonds. During batch Jar tests, flocculation initiated within 4 minutes after the addition of HCl (0.5 M) and total sedimentation completed within 3 hours. The use of commercial flocculants might decrease the sedimentation time. As expected a significant increase in dissolved salt content of the clear supernatant was observed. No re-dispersion of the dried clay occurred. Throughout the study geochemical modeling was performed with PHREEQC software to identify/determine possible effective experimental conditions, minimizing experimental time and expenses. The program was also used to model outcomes of the possible water treatment options, indicated in literature as viable options for similar situations. These options can be tested to extend upon the current research. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Water quality and space constraints have become major concerns regarding the No. 7 waste water dam at Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine. The unique location of the dam constrains further development, while unsustainable accumulation of waste water inside the dam increases the risk of potential environmental contamination from seepages and spillages. The dam retains a significant amount of very poor quality water. Its excessively high pH, dissolved salt content, density and extreme turbidity result from the concentration of natural weathering products of the diamond bearing kimberlite ore. The turbidity results from the dispersion of colloidal chlorite, saponite and nontronite clay. Along with the chemistry of the solution, their colloidal shape contributes equally significantly to the non-settlement of these suspended clays. Flocculation of the dispersed clay particles will provide (a) for easy and effective separation of the clay material from the waste water and (b) more convenient options for water treatment (and subsequent redistribution) This study was aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the dynamic interactions in the No 7 Dam system to contribute towards identifying a suitable means/method for chemical flocculation of the clay particles. The individual components of the system (clays, water quality) and influx contributors (kimberlite and its leachate) were systematically characterized by means of X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence, petrographic microscopy, electron microscopy, electrophoretic mobility and standard water- and soil quality analyses. The baseline quality of the Cullinan kimberlite leachate was obtained based on ASTM D5744 principles. It was found that adjusting the pH-level and ionic strength of the waste water to the critical coagulation point (cK) (as determined by electrophoretic mobility and batch jar experiments) automatically induced coagulation. Higher valence cations were displaced from pH dependent surface charge sites by proton adsorption. The resultant increased ionic strength, in combination with decreased thickness of the ionic double layer, was sufficient for the automatic initiation of high strength disordered face-face and edge-face bonds. During batch Jar tests, flocculation initiated within 4 minutes after the addition of HCl (0.5 M) and total sedimentation completed within 3 hours. The use of commercial flocculants might decrease the sedimentation time. As expected a significant increase in dissolved salt content of the clear supernatant was observed. No re-dispersion of the dried clay occurred. Throughout the study geochemical modeling was performed with PHREEQC software to identify/determine possible effective experimental conditions, minimizing experimental time and expenses. The program was also used to model outcomes of the possible water treatment options, indicated in literature as viable options for similar situations. These options can be tested to extend upon the current research. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document / Dissertation (MSc (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Plant Science / unrestricted