South Africa is one of the world's foremost mining nations and mining and its associated
industries continue to form the cornerstone of the country's economy. However, the mining
industry has, by its very nature, the potential to endanger human health and safety, as well
as the physical environment. Consequently, mining will always contend with major
environmental challenges and remain under constant public pressure to demonstrate its
commitment to responsible environmental management.
The key to effective environmental management is the use of a systematic approach to plan,
control and improve environmental efforts. An Environmental Management System (EMS)
employs such an approach and allows organisations to address environmental concerns in
an orderly and consistent manner. Such a system allows organisations to anticipate and
meet their environmental objectives and to ensure ongoing compliance with national and/or
international requirements.
An organisation with no existing EMS should, initially, establish its current position with
regard to the environment by means of an initial review process. The aim should be to
consider all environmental aspects of the organisation as a basis for establishing the EMS.
Although a few gold mines in South Africa have implemented an EMS, the question of which
significant environmental aspects need to be managed in such a system at a deep level gold
mine shaft, remains largely unanswered. This study endeavoured to provide answers to this
question and develop a generic model for the initial review process of a deep level gold mine
shaft. The development of such a model should facilitate the development and
implementation of an EMS at such shafts, thereby contributing to reduce the environmental
impact of gold mines.
The research consisted of a literature review of national and international literature on the
topic and a comparative empirical study, which evaluated the mining operations of two deep
level gold mine shafts. Data collection and analysis was done according to the IS0 14015
guideline on the environmental assessment of sites and organisations. Other techniques
used included business process analysis, the use of modified Leopoldt matrices and risk
analysis to determine the significance of the environmental impacts and aspects.
This study contributed to a generic model for the initial environmental review process that
precedes the development of an EMS at deep level gold mine shafts through:
developing a generic sub-model that can be used to determine the scope of any deep
level gold mine shaft;
identifying some of the significant environmental impacts and aspects of deep level gold
mine shafts, as well as
identifying some generic business activities that are potentially destructive and carry a
high risk of causing significant negative environmental impacts. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/250 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Meyer, Theunis Christoffel |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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