Thesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Sand mining has grown popular in South African rural communities due to its increasing demand for building purposes in and around the surrounding villages as well as a source of income to the rural communities. Sand is an indispensable natural resource of any society around the world. For instance, the government has to deal with the frequent sand mining environmental effects and implement various strategies on how to deal with these effects to protect the environment. Although the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) 107 of 1998 regulates sand mining, the illegal and unregulated rural sand mining is causing land degradation, creating unpleasant appearances, causing vulnerability to floods and pointing out the need for rehabilitation. Given the circumstances surrounding the issue of illegal sand mining in rural communities, this research is aimed at investigating the impact of illegal or legal sand mining on the environment looking at the land degradation and the importance of rehabilitating the area after use in Mentz village. The main objective of this research was to explore how sand mining causes land degradation and examining the significance of rehabilitation in sand mining. The methodology of the study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative research design in a form of questionnaire surveys, oral interviews and field observations to collect the data. The sample was composed of the general members of the community, the chief and the sand miners. For data analysis, the study used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), IBM SPSS Statistics 25. The results indicated that sand mining causes 54.76% of the land degradation in South Africa. Furthermore, the research revealed that 30.95% of the land degradation was due to deforestation and 11.90% of Mentz land degradation was caused by overgrazing. Besides, an overwhelming 76.58% of the respondents agreed that land should be rehabilitated after sand mining processes.

Heavy metal pollution in water and soil is a serious concern to human health and the associated environment. Some heavy metals have bio-importance but the bio-toxic effects of many of them in human health are of great concern. Hence, there was a need for proper understanding of the concentration levels of these heavy metals in ground water and soil around the community residing in the vicinity of the defunct mine. Mining has become prominent in this area because of the existence of copper lodes, veins and veinlets. It was therefore necessary to assess these selected metals associated with copper mining as their concentration has a tendency to affect the environment and human health. The objective of this study was to establish the levels of lead (Pb)-zinc (Zn)-copper (Cu)-arsenic (As)-nickel (Ni) metals in ground water and soil associated with an old copper mine in the vicinity of the township and to compare them with the South African and international standards in order to safeguard the health of the community using such water for drinking purpose. Clean sampling plastic bottles were used to collect water from five water boreholes being used at present. Water samples were filtered using membrane filtration set LCW (0.45 μm). The samples were digested sequentially with different procedures for the total metal concentration. Concentrations of four metals commonly associated with Cu mining were examined at five different water boreholes which are used for drinking and industrial purposes. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmar S/n 000003F6067A, Singapore) was used to analyze metals in water samples at Eskom Ga-Nala Laboratory: pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity were analyzed using an auto titrator meter (AT- 500,Japan), conductivity meter (Cole-parmer® YO-19601-00) and turbidity meter (AL 250TIR, Agua lytic, German) respectively. Soil samples were collected from the selected areas where human health is of a serious concern, and a hand held auger drill was used to recover samples, while shovels were used to prepare the sampling area. The samples were sieved up to 63.0 μm particle size and digested with aqua-regia. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Model: AA400; Year: 2008; Manufacturer: Perkin Elmer; Germany; Serial no: 201S6101210) was used at the University of Venda Laboratory to analyze soil from the study area for possible heavy metal contamination due to the defunct Cu mine in the area. v The results showed variation of the investigated parameters in water samples as follows: pH, 6.0 to 7.51; EC, 70.0 to 96.40 μS/cm and turbidity, 1.05 to 4.56 NTU. The mean concentration of the metals increased in the followed order: Pb<Cu<As<Ni. Ni is the most abundant in the ground water determined with value of (6.49 μg/g). The observations have confirmed that most ground water contains an appreciable quantity of Ni. The mean value of As in water is (4.20 to 4.84 μg/g), Pb and Cu have (2.13 to 2.58 μg/g) and (1.52 to 2.52 μg/g) respectively. For soil samples, the mean concentration of the metals increased in the following order: Pb<Cu<Zn<As<Ni. Pb ranged from (0.023 to 0.036 μg/g) followed by Cu (0.28 to 0.45 μg/g) then Zn (0.026 to 0.053 μg/g), the mean range of As in soil ranged from (0.054 to 0.086 μg/g). However, some studies show much higher contamination of As from the natural sources and Ni with (0.057 to 0.144 μg/g) lastly. Accumulation of heavy metals in soil is of concern due to their toxic effects on human and animals. The quality of ground water from the five boreholes studied was satisfactory with turbidity (T), electrical conductivity (EC) and heavy metals (HM’s) below the WHO limit. The water therefore may, according to the WHO Standards be safely used as a drinking water. The concern lies on pH which was slightly (0.5) below the standard. There is a serious need to monitor the ground water which is now used for drinking purposes. This study revealed that heavy metal pollution in soil from the abandoned Cu mine in Musina is a threat to the health of the community. Although pollution was between medium and low in the contamination index, it is therefore important for the Musina Municipality or mine owner of Musina (TVL) Development Co Ltd copper mine to advocate possible remedial actions which will safeguard the environment and human health. The tailing at Musina’s old Cu mine have high pH and they lack normal soil stabilization processes, as a result the tailing does not develop a good plant cover. Pollution of the ground water resources is also evident in the study area where there is seepage or ingress of polluted water to the underground aquifers. Small-scale mining in Musina is causing further degradation to the environment but it supports the South African Waste Hierarchy by promoting the reuse and recycling of the tailing and mine dumps for the production of bricks. Mine workers are exposed to the above mentioned toxic heavy metals daily. Medicine will not help stop the poisoning. The only way to stop the metal poisoning is to stop being exposed to the heavy metals. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Diamond mining started in Kimberley in the early 1870s following the discovery of the various diamond bearing kimberlite pipes. Initial open pit mining was replaced by underground mining as the pits went deeper and the last underground mining eventually ceased in 2005 as a result of economic reasons. The mining of these primary resources created a number of tailing resources (previously called dumps) that are scattered all over Kimberley. These resources still contain diamonds as a result of historical inefficient processing technologies. However, each of these resources have unique geological and metallurgical properties because of the differences in the original kimberlites and the different treatment technologies that were used when the tailing resources were deposited. The tailing resources are mined by a fleet of earthmoving equipment and delivered to one of Kimberley Mines‟ five treatment plants for diamond recovery. Each plant is different in terms of treatment capacity, technologies utilised and overall efficiencies. These differences, combined with the geo-metallurgical properties of each individual resource and the hauling distance from the resource to the plant, determine if the specific resource can be treated profitably through that plant. With this array of resources available, Kimberley Mines is in the fortunate position of having flexibility to maximise the Net Present Value (NPV) of the operation. Unfortunately this flexibility also increases the complexity of finding the optimal solution. Mine Planning is currently conducted with a spreadsheet based input – output model but this model is not able to match the resource properties with the plant parameters and this method results in a plan that may be neither practical nor optimal. The model is also very time-consuming and scenario analyses are therefore very limited. This report presents the development of a mixed integer linear programming model to assist with the development of a practical, optimal mine plan. The model is roughly based on a generic model that addresses facility location and processing plant problems as developed by Barbaro & Ramani (1986); however, the model presented in this report includes a more detailed mass balance within the plant and models how the metallurgical properties of the resources affect the mass balances and overall throughputs. The results of the project indicate that the current spreadsheet based Mine Plan is not practical since it violates two mass balance constraints within the Combined Treatment Plant. The newly developed system is used to generate a mining schedule that does not violate any constraints while still delivering the same net present value and overall throughput. The system also illustrates that the plant can improve the annual throughput by 18.2% by changing one screen size. The system also illustrates that only two of the five plants add value and supports management‟s recent decision that the production through the other plants should cease. In summary: The newly developed system generates an optimal, practical mine plan in less than a tenth of the time required for the old spreadsheet based model. The new system can also do various what-if scenarios which the previous model could not answer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die ontginning van diamante in Kimberley het in die vroeë 1870s begin na die ontdekking van verskeie diamanthoudende kimberlietpype. Aanvanklike oopgroefmynbou is later vervang deur ondergrondse metodes soos die myne dieper geword het. Die laaste ondergrondse myne het in 2005 produksie gestaak as gevolg van ekonomiese redes. Die ontginning van hierdie primêre reserwes het gelei tot die ontstaan van verskeie uitskotreserwes (voorheen genoem afvalhope) verspreid oor Kimberley. Hierdie reserwes bevat steeds diamante as gevolg van die historiese oneffektiewe aanlegte. Die reserwes het elkeen egter verskillende geologiese en metallurgiese eienskappe as gevolg van die verskille in die oorspronklike kimberliete en die verskillende herwinningstegnologieë wat in gebruik was toe die uitskotreserwes gegenereer is. Die uitskotreserwes word gemyn deur ‟n vloot grondverskuiwingstoerusting en word afgelewer by een van Kimberley Myne se vyf aanlegte vir diamantherwinning. Elke aanleg is uniek in terme van kapasiteit, tegnologieë in gebruik en algehele effektiwiteit. Hierdie verskille, tesame met die geo-metallurgiese eienskappe van elke reserwe en die vervoerafstand van die reserwe na die aanleg bepaal of die spesifieke reserwe winsgewend deur daardie aanleg geprosesseer kan word. Bogenoemde verskeidenheid van hulpbronne gee aan Kimberley Myne die voordeel van buigsaamheid om die Netto Huidige Waarde (NHW) van die myn te maksimeer. Hierdie buigsaamheid vergroot egter die kompleksiteit om die optimale antwoord te vind. Beplanning word tans met ‟n sigblad gebasseerde invoer – uitvoer model gedoen, maar hierdie model is nie in staat om die reserwes se eienskappe by die aanlegte se parameters aan te pas nie. Hierdie metode genereer dus ‟n plan wat moontlik nie prakties of optimaal is nie. Die model is ook tydrowend en scenario analises is dus baie beperk. Hierdie verslag beskryf die ontwikkeling van ‟n gemengde heeltallige lineêre programmeringsmodel vir die ontwikkeling van ‟n praktiese, optimale produksieplan. Die model is losweg gegrond op ‟n generiese model van Barbaro & Ramani (1986) wat fasiliteit posisionering en aanlegprobleme aanspreek. Die model in hierdie verslag bevat egter ‟n meer gedetailleerde massabalans binne die aanleg en modelleer hoe die metallurgiese eienskappe van die reserwes die massabalanse en die algehele kapasiteite beïnvloed. Die resultate van die projek dui daarop dat die huidige sigblad produksieplan nie prakties is nie aangesien dit twee massabalansbeperkings in die Combined Treatment Plant oorskry. Die nuwe stelsel is gebruik om ‟n produksieskedule te genereer wat nie enige beperkings verbreek nie en wat terselfdertyd die aanvanklike netto huidige waarde en totale produksie ewenaar. Die stelsel wys ook dat die jaarlikse kapasiteit met 18.2% verhoog kan word deur een van die sif-groottes te verander. Die stelsel demonstreer ook dat slegs twee van die vyf aanlegte waarde toevoeg en ondersteun bestuur se onlangse besluit dat die produksie deur die ander aanlegte gestaak behoort te word. Ter samevatting: Die nuwe stelsel genereer ‟n optimale, praktiese produksieplan in minder as ‟n tiende van die tyd benodig vir die ou sigblad model. Die nuwe stelsel kan ook verskeie “Wat sal gebeur indien…” scenario‟s hanteer wat die vorige model nie kon beantwoord nie.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) embarked on a restructuring exercise towards the end of 2005 to enable the organisation and its management to adapt to the pressures and requirements of an ever-changing South African coal industry. The executive team of XCSA felt that some of the business units were too large to be effectively managed by one general manager and his/her management team. The Tweefontein and Impunzi business units fell into this category. Further, the executive team felt that the existing organisational structures on the mines were unable to effectively manage the demands coming from an ever-changing coal industry. Most such demands emanated from sustainable development issues: workplace safety, environmental management, health-related concerns to do with the employees and community development around the mines. The restructuring took place towards the end of 2005, not long after the restructuring of the business performance went into decline. The author of this thesis, as the General Manager of the Tweefontein Complex from the beginning of 2006 until mid-2008, was responsible for the day-to-day management of the division at the time. After explaining the need for restructuring, as well as how the structure was changed, the author will describe a comprehensive literature research study. The aim of such a study is to create a common understanding with the reader of the principles relating to culture, leadership and change management. The author then compares the two climate assessments of the organisational culture of the Boschmans Colliery undertaken during 2005 prior to embarking on the restructuring exercise, and of the Tweefontein Complex undertaken during 2007, on completion of the restructuring. Boschmans Colliery employees now constitute most of the underground and surface operations areas of the Tweefontein Complex. The organisational culture of the Tweefontein Complex was found to have been influenced by the restructuring exercise. The author concludes with recommendations on how the organisational culture of XCSA as a whole could be aligned. Chief among the recommendations are that: • A cultural alignment programme should be implemented to create a common organisational culture across XCSA. • A leadership development programme should be implemented to promote the desired organisational culture. • A communication strategy should be implemented to support the cultural alignment programme. • A branding campaign should be launched to strengthen the image of XCSA within the surrounding community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) het aan die einde van 2005 besluit om die besigheid te herstruktureer om aan te pas by die veranderende aard van die Suid-Afrikaanse steenkoolindustrie. Die gevoel van die uitvoerende komitee was dat sekere van die besigheidseenhede te groot was om effektief deur een algemene bestuurder, bestuur te word. Die Tweefontein- en Impunzi-besigheidseenhede het in die kategorie geval. Verder het die uitvoerende kommitee gevoel dat die bestaande bestuurstruktuur per myn nie voldoende was om al die verwagtinge vanuit 'n vinnig veranderende steenkoolindustrie effektief te kan bestuur nie. Die vernaamste verwagtinge van die vinnig veranderende industrie was die vanuit die veld van Volhoubaarheid, naamlik veiligheid op myne, omgewingsbewustheid, gesondheid van die werknemers, sowel as die opbou van die gemeenskap. Die herstrukturering het aan die einde van 2005 plaasgevind en nie lank na die herstrukturering nie het die prestasie van die besigheid drasties afgeneem. Die skrywer was die Algemene Bestuurder van die Tweefontein Complex vanaf die begin van 2006 tot die middel van 2008, en was verantwoordelik vir die dag-tot-dag-bestuur van die afdeling. As deel van die studie sal die skrywer eerstens poog om die redes vir die herstrukturering te gee en ook hoe die nuwe struktuur daar uitsien. Tweedens sal die skrywer 'n deeglike literatuurstudie verskaf om 'n gemeenskaplike verstandhouding tussen die skrywer en die leser oor die beginsels van kultuur, leierskap en veranderingsbestuur te skep. Derdens sal die skrywer die resultate van twee klimaatstudies ontleed wat op die besigheidskultuur van die Boschmans-steenkoolmyn in 2005 voor die herstrukturering gedoen is en een wat in 2007 op die Tweefontein Complex na die herstrukturering gedoen is. Die werknemers van die Boschmans-steenkoolmyn maak tans die grootste gedeelte van die Tweefontein Complex se ondergrondse en aanleg- en logistieke afdelings uit. Na aanleiding van die analise van die twee klimaatstudies, bevind die skrywer dat die herstrukturering 'n daadwerklike invloed op die kultuur van die Tweefontein Complex gehad het. Die skrywer maak dan na gelang van sy bevindinge aanbevelings oor hoe die kultuur van Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) as 'n geheel belyn kan word. Sy belangrikste aanbevelings is as volg: • Die implementering van 'n kultuurbelyningsprogram om 'n gemeenskaplike besigheidskultuur regoor Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) daar te stel. • Die implementering van 'n leierskapsontwikkelingsprogram wat belyn is met die verlangde besigheidskultuur. • Die implementering van 'n kommunikasiestrategie wat die kultuurbelyningsprogram ondersteun. • Die loodsing van 'n Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) bemarkingsveldtog am Xstrata Coal se beeld in die gemeenskap te bevorder.

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG, IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. / In its chronic form silicosis had always been been taken for granted as one of the occupational hazards of mining. But both during and shortly after the Anglo-Boer War it manifested itself in a new accelerated form amongst former Witwatersrand rock drillers. Despite the appointment in the Transvaal of a commission of enquiry in 1902 and the promulgation of dust precaution measures, by 1912 the prevalence of and mortality from the disease amongst the Witwatersrand miners had not diminished. This finding suggests two of the purposes of the study: first, the reasons for the continued prevalence of the disease; and second, the extent of the mortality from silicosis amongst the miners. Because of the apparently low prevalence of and mortality from the disease amongst African mineworkers, the disease was ironically nick-named the "white death". Therefore another aim of the study is to examine the validity of the medical claim that the short contracts of African migrant workers safeguarded them from contracting accelerated si licosis. As the subject is complex, the study uses a thematic approach. Chapters two to nine deal with significant themes: first, the growing medical knowledge concerning silicosis, the mining and medical precautions against the disease and the age-old disregard for the occupational illness in its chronic form; second, the industrialists* need to reduce working costs, the development of mass-production technologies and the resort by management to "speeding up"; and third, the miners' needs for job and wage security, the encroachment of African competitors in semi-skilled and skilled spheres of mining and the introduction and the extension of the colour bar. Chapter nine deals with underground health conditions. Chapter ten explores the awareness of the new form of the disease, accelerated silicosis, and the establishment in 1902 of the first Transvaal commission on silicosis. Chapter eleven discusses the failure to implement remedies. Finally, chapter twelve explores the prevalence of and mortality from silicosis and the impact of the disease on the workforce of the mines. In chapters ten, eleven and twelve a synthesis is offered of the themes and findings of the previous chapters. The project is based almost entirely on contemporary primary and published sources. Apart from silicosis, a unifying theme throughout the discrete sections is the perceptions of miners of their vocation in general, and of this occupational disease in particular. The study requires periodization. As silicosis is a slow-developing disease the starting point of the investigation is 1886, when gold was discovered on the Rand. The study ends in 1910 because the establishment of Union in 1910 and the legal award of compensation in 1911 heralded a new era in the history of silicosis on the South African gold mines. The following are the conclusions. First, almost an entire generation of overseas miners, most of whom remained migrants and whose skills pioneered the South African gold mining industry, died from silicosis. Second, for reasons of self-interest, some of which they shared with one another, both the Transvaal state and the Randlords did virtually nothing to remedy the occurrence of the disease. Both parties were culpable for the neglect of the health of the industry's workforce: using only perfunctory dust safeguards, management intensified production through the deployment of both modern technology and labour intensive practices, peculiar to the Witwatersrand; and most of the state's interventionist initiatives were the result of pressure from the British House of Commons. Third, the fear and anger of miners at being the victims of a preventable occupational disease, provided the catalyst for their militancy during the period. Fourth, the industry's power was partly responsible for causing both the press and medical profession to be silent about the problem until 1910. Finally, the mineowners both seized and promoted the unsubstantiated medical orthodoxy, namely that the short contracts of African mineworkers protected them from accelerated silicosis, as an important rationale for perpetuating the migrant labour system / Andrew Chakane 2018

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Science. / Beatrix Mine is located 35 km south of the city of Welkom in the Welkom Goldfield and as such forms the most southerly of the Witwatersrand-type gold mines. The Beatrix Reef overlies an angular unconformity at the base of the Turffontein Subgroup, Central Rand Group Significant, southerly truncation of over 600m of the Johannesburg Subgroup, and the lower formations of the Turffontein Subgroup, occur at this unconformity in the Beatrix area.. characteristics of the Beatrix Reef conglomerates such as the morphology, sorting and packing of clasts, and the arrangement. of the sediments in various sedimentary structures and facies/ sequences, suggest deposition within a braided fluvial environment on a coarse-grained braid-delta. Sedimentation occurred after the fluvial degradation of previously deposited units, and culminated in a marine/ lacustrine transgression. Low aggradation rates led to significant reworking and concentration of placer materials in a depositional model probably typical of ventral Rand Group placer formation. Heavy minerals (and gold) are concentrated in response to hydraulic conditions and show a close association with large and small scale sedimentary features. Transport directions deduced from the sedimentary structures suggest a north to south dispersal of sediment down the braid plain. Sedimentary structures in the finer rained units at the base of the Eldorado Formation are indicative of tidal influences and document the marine transgression as the culmination of the degradational events. The lithologys sedimentary structures and facies sequences of the coarser grained units of the Eldorado Formation well as the overall coarsening upward of these lithologies indicate sedimentation in a braided , fluvial system, on an alluvial fan prograding across the preyiously deposited units" Sedimentary ~tructures and lithologic variations confirm a continued north to south dispersal pattern. In the area south of the Sand over the period of fluvial degradation and transgression after the formation of the Beatrix: Reef was followed by more rapidly aggreding fluvial progradation due to a major change in base level in response to compressional tectonics and uplift along the Western Margin Structure. Only in post-Central Rand Group times did relaxation and extensional tectonics result in the outpourings of the Ventersdorp .supergroup lavas and the cessation of active Witwatersrand Supergroup sedimentation. / Andrew Chakane 2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering / Regulation 10.24 of the Minerals Act (1991) of the Republic of South Africa is applied for the purpose of preventing the development and propagation of coal-dust explosions in underground coal mines. ( Abbreviation abstract ) / AC2017

Ultra deep mining presents many challenges to the mining engineer, one of which is the logistics to support mining operations quickly and efficiently. Typically, Witwatersrand gold mines operate at depths in excess of 2000 m with stoping taking place to 3500 m and investigations underway to mine to a depth of 5000 m. As mining progresses deeper and further from the shaft, the role of logistics becomes increasingly important if production targets are to be achieved. Access to the workings is often via sub vertical and even tertiary subvertical shaft systems with working faces as far as five kilometers from the shaft. It is inevitable therefore, that distance will negatively impact the working time available at the stope face, material transportation and distribution, as well as the removal of broken ore. Possible solutions to these logistical problems may be found in the use of different transportation systems or by applying sound design and operational principles to transportation systems, both in the horizontal and instope areas. This thesis investigates the challenges of logistics for ultra deep level gold mining in the Witwaterstrand basin for mining layouts planning to mine between 3000 m and 5000 m underground with typical horizontal distances of over 3000 m. The transportation needs analysis recognised that vertical transportation is a wellmanaged and organised system and is mainly the same for both shallow and deep level operations. As a result of this, the thesis only focuses on the logistical issues of the horizontal and in-stope processes. The literature review indicates that the majority of work previously conducted on transportation focused around the area of horizontal transportation with limited inputs to in-stope transportation systems. The review concludes that the traditional locomotive transportation system is the most applicable mode of horizontal transportation. Thus, special emphasis is given to trackbound transportation. An integrated approach is taken towards mine transportation advocating that underground logistics be considered as equally important as any other discipline, Le. rock engineering, ventilation, etc. In addition, the transportation process should consider each area equally important. All to often, the transportation of rock is considered of paramount importance over the transportation of personnel and material. Thus, the planning any transportation system should incorporate personnel, material and rock. To enable this, scheduling, communication and control are important with special attention required for transfer points in the transportation system. As each site has its own particular requirement, thus the final transportation systems must be drawn up based on the specific requirements of each mine. A guideline is proposed for the design of ultra deep level underground transport systems for personnel, material and rock transportation. Thus, providing mining engineers with sufficient information and data to select an appropriate transportation system to meet specific mine requirements. The thesis highlights areas requiring consideration by mine engineers when designing a transportation system from shaft to the working face. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Ph.D. (Geology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The UG3 at Modikwa Platinum Mine occurs as a platiniferous, planar chromitite seam. It is stratigraphically located in the Upper Critical Zone of the Eastern Bushveld Complex. Field work study comprise of underground mapping, sampling, surface mapping, borehole core logging, microprobing and microscopic investigations carried out at the Rhodes University. The UG3 at the Modikwa Platinum Mine is about 22cm thick chromitite seam underlain by a white fine grained anorthosite and overlain by a brown medium grained feldspathic pyroxenite. It is an incomplete cyclic unit consisting of chromite and feldspathic pyroxenite. The UG3 reef at the Modikwa Platinum Mine lease area represents a Platinum Group Metal resource of 300 million tons of ore at an in situ grade of 2.5g/t. Under the current market conditions the UG3 reef remains unprofitable to mine in an underground operation due to the operational cost involved. However, it has been illustrated that the UG3 chromitite seam can increase profit margins in an open pit operation provided it is mined together with the economic UG2 chromitite seam. The extraction of the UG3 as ore in the four Modikwa UG2 open pits would result in a combined operating cash profit of R330 million. The UG3 chromitite seam is platiniferous. The platinum-group minerals (PGM) range in size from less than 10μm to about 70μm. The PGMs are associated with sulphides and are both located in the interstitial silicates and are concentrated in the chromitite seam. The PGMs show a strong preference to contact boundaries of the silicate grains, the chromite grains and the sulphide phases. In some instances, they are enclosed within the chromite grains in association with sulphides. The general sulphide assemblage comprises pentlandite and chalcopyrite whereas, the PGMs assemblage comprises cooperite, ferroplatinum, laurite, FeRhS and PtRhS.