south32 sa coal holdings (pty) limited proposed south32 …

Compiled By:

Registration # 2008/016639/23 ♦ VAT # 4720244591 ♦ 082 417 6901 ♦ 013 243 7110 ♦ 086 665 9703

Suite 445 MW, Private Bag X1838, Middelburg, 1050 ♦ Midlands Office Park, Building A, Unit 3, 2 Walter Sisulu Street, Middelburg, MP

www.jacokconsulting.co.za

SOUTH32 SA COAL HOLDINGS (Pty) Limited

Proposed South32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Limited (CSA) Khutala Life Extension Project

(KLX)

Water Monitoring Report for the period: August 2012 – June 2016

October 2016

Project # A0520

Report # JKC_0615

Client

South32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Limited

P.O. Box 61820

Marshalltown

21079

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Water Monitoring Report for the period: August 2012 – June 2016 for KLX – Project A0520 – Report # JKC_0615

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jaco-K Consulting cc

PROJECT DETAILS

Name of Project: KLX Project

Mining right reference: MP 30/5/1/2/2/118 MR

Name of Applicant: South32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Limited

Responsible person: Winrie Kruger

Contact person Clinton Lee

Postal Address: P.O. Box 61820, Marshalltown, 2107

Telephone: +27 13 689 4318

Facsimile: +27 11 376 2160

E-mail: [email protected]

Environmental Consultant (EAP): Jaco – K Consulting CC

Responsible person: Stephan Kitching

Author of this document: Stephan Kitching

Physical address: 2 Walter Sisulu Street, Unit 3,

Midlands Office Park, Middelburg, 1050

Postal Address: Suite 445 MW, Private Bag X1838,

Middelburg, 1050

Telephone: (013) 243 7110

Facsimile: (086) 665 9703

E-mail: [email protected]

Expertise of EAP: Jaco Kleynhans: Professional Environmental

Engineer, registered with the Engineering Council

of South Africa (ECSA). Registration No: 940108.

mailto:[email protected]


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ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ACTIVITY ....................................................................... 5

2 COMPLIANCE DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................... 7

2.1 Surface Water Quality ...................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Groundwater Quality ...................................................................................................... 10

3 OVERVIEW OF MONITORING POINT LOCALITIES ....................................................... 12

3.1 Surface water ................................................................................................................ 17

3.2 Groundwater .................................................................................................................. 18

4 COMPLIANCE STATUS .................................................................................................. 20

4.1 Surface water Compliance ............................................................................................. 20

4.2 Groundwater Compliance .............................................................................................. 23

5 GENERAL COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................... 25

5.1 General Comments ........................................................................................................ 25

5.1.1 Surface water.............................................................................................................. 25

5.1.2 Groundwater ............................................................................................................... 26

6 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 28

TABLE OF TABLES


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iii

Table 1: Surface water RWQO for the KLX project ............................................................................. 7

Table 2: Surface water monitoring points ............................................................................................. 9

Table 3: Sulphate limit for Wilge River Catchment ............................................................................ 10

Table 4: Sulphate limit for Witbank Dam Catchment ........................................................................ 10

Table 5: Groundwater monitoring points ............................................................................................. 11

Table 6: Monitoring points for the KLX project ................................................................................... 13

Table 7: Wilge river Sulphate compliance (60mg/l) ........................................................................... 20

Table 8: Witbank Dam Sulphate compliance (500mg/l) ................................................................... 21

Table 9: Groundwater SO4 compliance ............................................................................................... 23

Table 10: Groundwater quality results (adapted from: Botha, 2016) .............................................. 26

Table 11: Groundwater quality guidelines .......................................................................................... 27

TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Locality of the KLX project .......................................................................................... 6

Figure 2: Surface water monitoring layout for the KLX project ................................................. 18

Figure 3: Groundwater monitoring layout for the KLX project .................................................. 19

Figure 4: Surface water Sulphate compliance map for the KLX project ................................... 22

Figure 5: Groundwater Sulphate compliance map for the KLX project ..................................... 24

ANNEXURES

Annexure 1: General

Annexure 2: Hydrochemistry Data and Time Dependent Graphs

Annexure 3: Maps


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iv

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACCRONYMS

ABA - Acid Base Accounting

AMD - Acid Mine Drainage

ARD - Acid Rock Drainage

BAP - Biodiversity Action Plan

CSBS - Clean Stream Biological Services

DARDLEA - Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs

DLA - Department of Land Affairs

DMR - Department of Mineral Resources

DW - Digby Wells & Associates

DWA - Department of Water Affairs

DWS - Department of Water and Sanitation

EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment

EMP - Environmental Management Programme

IAP - Interested and Affected Party

IAPs - Interested and Affected Parties

IWWMP - Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan

JKC - Jaco-K Consulting

LOM - Life of Mine

MPRDA - Minerals, Petroleum and Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002)

NEMA - National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998)

NEMBA - National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No.10 of 2004)

NEMWA - National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008)

NWA - National Water Act, 36 (Act No. 36 of 1998)

RWQO - Resource Water Quality Objective

U/G - Underground

WUL - Water use licence


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5

1 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED ACTIVITY

Jaco – K Consulting (JKC) was appointed by South 32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Limited (CSA) to

compile a water monitoring report for the period: August 2012 – June 2016. Khutala Colliery is

owned by South 32 SA Coal Holdings (Pty) Limited (CSA), formerly known as BHP Billiton

Energy Coal South Africa (Pty) Limited (BECSA). The proposed mining project is located within

the existing Khutala Colliery premises. The proposed mine falls within the Emalahleni Local

Municipality, and within the greater Nkangala District Municipality, as seen on Figure 1.

Khutala Colliery is located some 8 km south-west of the town of Ogies and 35 km south-west of

Emalahleni, and just about 5-km south-east of the Kendal Power Station in Mpumalanga

Province, South Africa.

Khutala Colliery is a large, multi-seam and multi-section predominately underground mine in

the Witbank Coalfield of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. With an annual maximum

production of 13.3 million tonnes (Mt) of run-of-mine (ROM) coal per annum, Khutala Colliery is

one of the largest underground coal mines in South Africa.

Coal mined from the Khutala Colliery is supplied to the Kendal Power Station since November

1986. The requirement for coal from Khutala Colliery has been increasing annually due to the

increasing South African energy demands. Since 2006 Kendal Power Station requires more

than the initial 13.3 Mt of coal per annum (more than 15Mt is now required) which may continue

to increase.

Recent life-of-mine (LOM) plans have confirmed a future shortfall in the existing underground

coal reserves to meet the power station’s needs. A series of earlier studies have concluded that

the conversion of the colliery from underground to opencast is the best way to increase

resource utilisation meeting production levels and power station needs. The objective of the

study is to extend the life of Khutala Colliery by at least 10 years and for CSA to continue to

supply Kendal Power Station with coal up until 2033, hence the Khutala Life Extension (KLX)

Project.


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6

Figure 1: Locality of the KLX project

The Water Monitoring Report for the KLX Project consists of the following:

Surface water inorganic chemistry analysis; and

Groundwater inorganic chemistry analysis.

Regen Waters Laboratory (a SANAS accredited laboratory – see Annexure 1 for SANAS

Certificate), is responsible for the water sampling and analysis of the monitoring points related

to the KLX Project. This report was compiled using raw data from Regen Waters Laboratory

from August 2012 up until June 2016 for the surface water monitoring points and it includes

Time Dependent Graphs (Annexure 2) for the relevant environmental monitoring points. The

groundwater quality data was obtained from the most recent groundwater study done by

Groundwater Square (2016).


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7

2 COMPLIANCE DESCRIPTION

Compliance is visually displayed in thematic maps indicating compliance with size and colour

coding. The collective monitoring points, in terms of surface water and groundwater are used

when compiling compliance maps; these maps can be found in Annexure 3. The localities of

monitoring points relative to the mine infrastructure are displayed in topographical maps by

making use of the most appropriate scale. Please refer to Figures 2 and 3.

Auditing of the analyses results aims to:

Identify current impact areas;

Describe these impacts;

Evaluate the significance of these impacts, provided that the available data indicates a

sound link-up between the suspected pollution source and receptor; and

Establish long term monitoring requirements.

2.1 Surface Water Quality

The proposed KLX Project will be located over 2 quaternary catchments, two sets of resource

water quality objectives (RWQO) and water quality guidelines were identified to be applicable to

this project. These include:

The interim Wilge River RWQO, management unit 22 (applicable to B20E); and

The Witbank Dam RWQO (applicable to B11F).

The various RWQO’s are represented in Table 1:

Table 1: Surface water RWQO for the KLX project

Water Quality Variables Units Wilge Catchment

Witbank Dam Catchment

SANS 241-1:2015

Conductivity mS/m 40 ≤ 111

Dissolved Oxygen % sat 70

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

mg/l

pH - 6.5 – 8.4 5 – 9.7

Suspended Solids mg/l

Turbidity NTU ≤ 10

Chemical, Inorganic

Alkalinity mg CaCO3/l 120 ≥ 60

Ammonia (NH4) mg/l ≤ 0.1

Boron mg/l 0.5

Arsenic mg/l ≤ 0.13

Calcium mg/l 25


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8

Water Quality Variables Units Wilge Catchment

Witbank Dam Catchment

SANS 241-1:2015

Chloride mg/l 20

Fluoride mg/l 0.5 ≤ 3.0

Magnesium mg/l 20

Potassium mg/l 10

Sodium mg/l 20

SAR (meql0.5

) (meql0.5

) 1.0

Sulphate mg/l 60 ≤ 500

Total Dissolved Solids mg/l 280 ≤ 1200

Chemical, Organic

Dissolved Organic Carbon mg/l 10

Metals, Dissolved

Iron mg/l 1.0 ≤ 0.3

≤ 2.0

Manganese mg/l 0.18 ≤ 1.3

Aluminium mg/l 0.02 ≤ 0.15

Chromium VI µg/l 0.05 ≤ 200

Cadmium µg/l ≤ 5

Plant Nutrients

Ammonia mg/l as N 0.007

Nitrate mg/l as N 6 ≤ 4

Phosphate mg/l as P 0.05 ≤ 0.125

Total Phosphorus mg/l as P 0.25

Total Inorganic Nitrogen mg/l as N 2.5

Please note that objectives have not been set for all of the parameters and therefore SANS

241-1:2015 is also used for omitted parameters. A water quality monitoring network was

established in 2012. The proposed KLX project is situated within the Witbank Dam catchment

within the sub-catchment B11F (KLX mining activities) and B20E (modular plant), which is

within Quaternary Catchment B20E of the Olifants River (Surface Water Resources of South

Africa – 1990). There are 33 surface water monitoring points in total, 11 – Modular Plant

(B20E), 11 – MRD’s (B11F) and 11 – KLX (B11F).

Surface water hydrochemistry data is attached in Annexure 2 along with Time Dependent

Graphs for various constituents, indicative of concentration change with time. The compliance

maps are attached in Annexure 3.


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Table 2: Surface water monitoring points

Name South East Description QC

1553 26° 06' 56.00" 29° 00' 46.00" D/S surface water balance dam B11F

1560 26° 07' 31.60" 28° 59' 46.00" Clean water dam U/S farmers dam B20E

1562 26° 07' 28.30" 28° 59' 23.40" Farmers dam U/S Block I O/C B20E

1568 26° 07' 04.00" 28° 59' 24.00" D/S sewage plant B20E

1600 26° 05' 20.40" 29° 01' 08.50" Block A dam U/s B11F

1603 26° 07' 26.30" 29° 00' 22.20" Oil separator - before B11F

1604 26° 05' 18.18" 29° 01' 27.60" D/S final void @ Zondagsvlei B11F

1605 26° 05' 06.24" 29° 01' 20.10" U/S final void @ Zondagsvlei B11F

1606 26° 05' 03.54" 29° 01' 30.00" Final void @ Zondagsvlei B11F

1611 26° 05' 45.60" 29° 01' 01.10" Block A O/C dam B11F

1615 26° 07' 22.20" 28° 59' 08.58" Northern stream - U/S Block I B20E

1617 26° 07' 54.70" 28° 58' 29.50" Northern stream - D/S Block I B20E

1618 26° 07' 48.40" 28° 58' 11.40" D/S Block I after confluence 1615 and 1616 B20E

1621 26° 06' 18.60" 29° 01' 02.70" Scharrighuisen Pollution Control Dam B11F

1622 26° 06' 18.00" 29° 01' 25.70" Sump along the road next to the gate B11F

1624 26° 08' 13.02" 28° 58' 49.92" Washability plant B20E

1625 26° 07' 23.40" 28° 59' 55.00" U/S of Main Poll. Contr. dam B20E

1627 26° 07' 23.10" 28° 58' 56.60" Block I Dam 1 B20E

1628 26° 07' 24.90" 28° 58' 44.10" Block I Dam 2 B20E

1636 26° 07' 44.80" 28° 58' 26.20" KTL7 B20E

1660 26° 08' 29.50" 29° 01' 46.30" Fan 5 Farmers dam B11F

1661 26° 04' 39.60" 29° 01' 03.50" Ogies farm dam B11F

1662 26° 05' 19.32" 29° 01' 48.48" Goedgevonden river d/s block A (below 1604) B11F

7200 26° 10’ 12.86” 29° 03' 56.88" B11F

7201 26° 09' 09.80" 29° 03' 20.20" Dam behind farm dam B11F

7202 26° 08' 12.70" 29° 03' 00.70" Wetland stream B11F

7203 26° 08' 15.50" 29° 03' 06.90" Stream B11F

7204 26° 08' 22.90" 29° 02' 29.80" B11F

7205 26° 07' 58.70" 29° 03' 23.60" B11F

7206 26° 07' 32.70" 29° 03' 45.30" B11F

7207 26° 10' 01.10" 29° 02' 37.80" B11F

7208 26° 09' 09.50" 29° 02' 40.10" B11F

7209 26° 07' 32.50" 29° 03' 37.10" B11F

Modular Plant

MRD’s

KLX

The water qualities of monitoring points colour coded in orange will be measured against water

quality objectives set for catchment B20E and the monitoring points in blue and green will be


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10

measured against water quality objectives set for catchment B11F. The omitted parameters will

be measured against SANS 241-1: 2015, please refer to Table 1 for the water quality

objectives. The status of a water resource can be described by the use of a macro indicator of

potential pollution such as Sulphate (SO4). As this is a coal mining environment, the use of

Sulphate concentration is deemed appropriate in terms of evaluating compliance with water

quality standards. Table 1 indicates that the Sulphate limit for the Wilge River Catchment is

60mg/l and for the Witbank Dam catchment the Sulphate limit is 500 mg/l. Average values for

Sulphate are displayed in this report; it is however important that Annexure 2 be used as a true

indicator for all parameters tested throughout the year. All of the monitoring points were

analysed for an array of constituents, for the purpose of this report only TDS (Total Dissolved

Salts/Solids), SO4 (Sulphate), Fe (Iron), Mn (Manganese), EC (Electrical Conductivity), pH and

Al (Aluminium) were included. The reason that these parameters were chosen is that they

represent the most important constituents in a mining environment (coal mining) and these

constituents can give a representative conclusion as to the status of the water resource.

The Sulphate limits for the respective catchments mentioned above are used when assigning

compliance; compliance is assigned in terms of colour coding. Monitoring points that are non-

compliant are assigned a shade of red colour coding while compliant points are assigned a

shade of green colour coding. Please refer to Tables 3 and 4 for the compliance colour coding

related to the respective catchments.

Table 3: Sulphate limit for Wilge River Catchment

RWQO for Wilge River Catchment

0 - 60mg/l SO4

> 60mg/l SO4

Table 4: Sulphate limit for Witbank Dam Catchment

RWQO for Witbank Dam Catchment

0 - 500mg/l SO4

> 500mg/l SO4

2.2 Groundwater Quality

The groundwater monitoring points relevant to this report have been extracted from the

following document:


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11

Khutala Colliery, KLX Project, EIA/EMP Amendment, Groundwater Impact Assessment

done by Groundwater Square. 2016. Reference no.: 185f_Khutala-KLX Project.

There is a large amount of boreholes drilled in the project area, 18 newly drilled boreholes were

selected to display the groundwater quality. The groundwater monitoring points are tabulated in

Table 5 below.

Table 5: Groundwater monitoring points

Name South East

BHUG-1 26° 06' 22.36" 29° 00' 13.72"

BHUG-2 26° 05' 50.21" 29° 00' 04.97"

BHUG-3 26° 05' 24.65" 28° 59' 56.00"

BHUG-4 26° 04' 46.74" 28° 59' 34.94"

BHUG-5 26° 04' 29.71" 28° 59' 56.69"

BHUG-6 26° 04' 57.00" 28° 59' 54.67"

BHUG-7 26° 05' 00.67" 29° 00' 22.86"

BHUG-8 26° 04' 43.00" 29° 00' 37.87"

KLX-B1M 26° 07' 09.73" 29° 04' 45.84"

KLX-B2M 26° 07' 23.88" 29° 04' 36.05"

KLX-B2S 26° 07' 23.99" 29° 04' 35.98"

KLX-B3D 26° 07' 14.16" 29° 06' 11.52"

KLX-B3S 26° 07' 14.41" 29° 06' 11.48"

KLX-B4M 26° 07' 55.92" 29° 06' 00.94"

KLX-B4S 26° 07' 56.06" 29° 06' 00.94"

KLX-B5M 26° 08' 20.76" 29° 04' 53.62"

KLX-B6D 26° 08' 55.32" 29° 04' 51.78"

KLX-B6S 26° 08' 55.43" 29° 04' 51.71"

The boreholes with the prefix KLX represent the proposed future groundwater monitoring points

relevant to the mining area. The boreholes with the prefix BHUG represents the boreholes

drilled into the old Kendal Seam 5 underground workings. These boreholes are also used to

assess the possibility of mine flooding.


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3 OVERVIEW OF MONITORING POINT LOCALITIES

Table 6 represents the monitoring points as well as co-ordinates thereof at KLX; these points

are also graphically represented in Figures 2 and 3. The information with regards to the

localities and descriptions of the monitoring points were obtained from the following documents:

Specialist surface water report as input to the EIA for the KLX Project, Report No.:

JKC_0580 (JKC, 2016) and;

Groundwater Impact Assessment as input to the EIA/EMP Amendment for the KLX

Project. Unpublished report done by Groundwater Square for Khutala Colliery.

Reference no.: 185f_Khutala-KLX Project.

For identification purposes colour coding was assigned in the tables to the different groups as

follows:

Surface Water monitoring points – shaded light blue

o Removed point – shaded yellow

Groundwater monitoring points – shaded green


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Table 6: Monitoring points for the KLX project

Site Label Mine Type Sampling

Frequency GW

Levels Description Latitude Longitude

1553 KLX SW Monthly NA D/S surface water balance dam 26° 06' 56.00" 29° 00' 46.00"

1560 KLX SW Monthly NA

Clean water dam U/S farmers dam 26° 07' 31.60" 28° 59' 46.00"


Farmers dam U/S Block I O/C 26° 07' 28.30" 28° 59' 23.40"


D/S sewage plant 26° 07' 04.00" 28° 59' 24.00"


Block A dam U/s 26° 05' 20.40" 29° 01' 08.50"


Oil separator - before 26° 07' 26.30" 29° 00' 22.20"


D/S final void @ Zondagsvlei 26° 05' 18.18" 29° 01' 27.60"


U/S final void @ Zondagsvlei 26° 05' 06.24" 29° 01' 20.10"


Final void @ Zondagsvlei 26° 05' 03.54" 29° 01' 30.00"


Block A O/C dam 26° 05' 45.60" 29° 01' 01.10"


Northern stream - U/S Block I 26° 07' 22.20" 28° 59' 08.58"


Northern stream - D/S Block I 26° 07' 54.70" 28° 58' 29.50"


D/S Block I after confluence 1615 and 1616 26° 07' 48.40" 28° 58' 11.40"


Scharrighuisen Pollution Control Dam 26° 06' 18.60" 29° 01' 02.70"


Sump along the road next to the gate 26° 06' 18.00" 29° 01' 25.70"


Washability plant 26° 08' 13.02" 28° 58' 49.92"


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Frequency GW



U/S of Main Poll. Contr. dam 26° 07' 23.40" 28° 59' 55.00"


Block I Dam 1 26° 07' 23.10" 28° 58' 56.60"


Block I Dam 2 26° 07' 24.90" 28° 58' 44.10"


KTL7 26° 07' 44.80" 28° 58' 26.20"


Fan 5 Farmers dam 26° 08' 29.50" 29° 01' 46.30"


Ogies farm dam 26° 04' 39.60" 29° 01' 03.50"


Goedgevonden river d/s block A (below 1604) 26° 05' 19.32" 29° 01' 48.48"


26° 10’ 12.86” 29° 03' 56.88"


Dam behind farm dam 26° 09' 09.80" 29° 03' 20.20"


Wetland stream 26° 08' 12.70" 29° 03' 00.70"


Stream 26° 08' 15.50" 29° 03' 06.90"


26° 08' 22.90" 29° 02' 29.80"


26° 07' 58.70" 29° 03' 23.60"


26° 07' 32.70" 29° 03' 45.30"


26° 10' 01.10" 29° 02' 37.80"


26° 09' 09.50" 29° 02' 40.10"


26° 07' 32.50" 29° 03' 37.10"


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Frequency GW


BHUG-1 KLX GW N/A 55.75

Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings 26° 06' 22.36" 29° 00' 13.72"

BHUG-2 KLX GW N/A Dry Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings

26° 05' 50.21" 29° 00' 04.97"

BHUG-3 KLX GW N/A 14.70 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings

26° 05' 24.65" 28° 59' 56.00"

BHUG-4 KLX GW N/A 28.24 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings 26° 04' 46.74" 28° 59' 34.94"



BHUG-7 KLX GW N/A Dry Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings 26° 05' 00.67" 29° 00' 22.86"


KLX-B1M KLX GW N/A 13.49

Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 09.73" 29° 04' 45.84"

KLX-B2M KLX GW N/A 28.17 Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 23.88" 29° 04' 36.05"

KLX-B2S KLX GW N/A 8.36 Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 23.99" 29° 04' 35.98"

KLX-B3D KLX GW N/A 30.14 Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 14.16" 29° 06' 11.52"

KLX-B3S KLX GW N/A 7.35 Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 14.41" 29° 06' 11.48"


KLX-B4S KLX GW N/A Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 07' 56.06" 29° 06' 00.94"


KLX-B6D KLX GW N/A 30.99 Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 08' 55.32" 29° 04' 51.78"


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16


Frequency GW


KLX-B6S KLX GW N/A Dry Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 26° 08' 55.43" 29° 04' 51.71"


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3.1 Surface water

For the purpose of this report, there are 33 surface water monitoring points included, please

refer to Table 6 for more detailed information with regards to the monitoring points relevant to

the KLX project. These points are then further grouped into three groups namely: Modular Plant

(11 points), MRD’s (11 points) and KLX (11 points). These 33 points are also located over two

different catchments with different RWQO’s, 22 points located within B11F (Witbank Dam

Catchment) and 11 points located within the B20E (Wilge River Catchment).

Comments:

Note that data collected for these surface water monitoring points are for the time

period: August 2012 up to June 2016;

No data was available for the following surface water monitoring points: 1604, 1605 and

7200;

Please refer to Figure 2 and Table 6 for the surface water monitoring map and

coordinates as well as descriptions relevant to the KLX project;

Time Dependent Graphs and surface water data (averages, maximum, minimum and

P95 values are included in Annexure 2;

Surface water monitoring points are also displayed in a map included in Annexure 3.


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Figure 2: Surface water monitoring layout for the KLX project

3.2 Groundwater

In terms of groundwater monitoring points, there are 18 newly drilled boreholes for the KLX

project included in the most recent groundwater study done by Groundwater Square. These

monitoring points include: 8 boreholes drilled into the Seam 5 underground workings to the

West of Block A opencast with the purpose of obtaining mine water levels and qualities (BHUG-

1 to BHUG-8); the other 10 groundwater monitoring points include: KLX – B1M, KLX – B2M,

KLX – B2S, KLX – B3D, KLX – B3S, KLX – B4M, KLX – B4S, KLX – B5M, KLX – B6D and KLX

– B6S.

Comments:

KLX – B6S, BHUG – 2 and BHUG – 7 were noted as dry during time of sampling;

The groundwater compliance map is also included in Annexure 3;

Please refer to Table 10 for groundwater data and Figure 3 for a map indicating the

groundwater monitoring points at KLX;

Note that this data was collected at the end of 2015 as part of the groundwater study.


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19

Figure 3: Groundwater monitoring layout for the KLX project


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20

4 COMPLIANCE STATUS

Compliance status as mentioned earlier in the report, will be classified as either compliant or

non-compliant. Surface water is graphically described and represented in Time Dependent

Graphs that were created using data from August 2012 to June 2016 (Annexure 2 and 3). The

Time Dependent Graphs for water quality analyses is comprised of the following components:

pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Salts/Solids (TDS), Sulphate (SO4), Aluminium

(Al), Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn).

4.1 Surface water Compliance

Table 7 represents the concentration of Sulphate for the Wilge River Catchment surface water;

the data represented includes the average concentration of Sulphate per monitoring point for

the time period of August 2012 to June 2016. For more detailed data in terms of Time

Dependent Graphs representing other parameters evaluated during water analysis, please

refer to Annexure 2 and Figure 4.

Table 7: Wilge river Sulphate compliance (60mg/l)

Name Description Average SO4

1560 Clean water dam U/S farmers dam

455.59

1562 Farmers dam U/S Block I O/C

265.14

1568 D/S sewage plant

124.18

1615 Northern stream - U/S Block I

296.99

1617 Northern stream - D/S Block I

782.16

1618 D/S Block I after confluence 1615 and 1616

1691.78

1624 Washability plant

66.60

1625 U/S of Main Poll. Contr. dam

120.54

1627 Block I Dam 1

372.86

1628 Block I Dam 2

357.67

1636 KTL7

2397.64

Table 8 represents the average concentration of Sulphate per monitoring point for the Witbank

Dam Catchment surface water.


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Table 8: Witbank Dam Sulphate compliance (500mg/l)

Name Description Average SO4

1553 D/S surface water balance dam 591.65

1600 Block A dam U/s 265.33

1603 Oil separator - before 389.65

1604 D/S final void @ Zondagsvlei -

1605 U/S final void @ Zondagsvlei -

1606 Final void @ Zondagsvlei 2102.90

1611 Block A O/C dam 529.82

1621 Scharrighuisen Pollution Control Dam 1125.47

1622 Sump along the road next to the gate 695.22

1660 Fan 5 Farmers dam 84.03

1661 Ogies farm dam 74.67

1662 Goedgevonden river d/s block A (below 1604) 347.02

7200 -

7201 Dam behind farm dam 878.25

7202 Wetland stream 184.21

7203 Stream 56.40

7204 84.36

7205 136.64

7206 227.00

7207 123.19

7208 62.41

7209 56.43

Comments:

Compliance was assigned in terms of the respective RWQO’s for the different

catchments;


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Table 7 indicates that none of the monitoring points in the Wilge River Catchment were

compliant with the Sulphate limit of 60mg/l. These elevated levels of Sulphate could be

due to the dry season experienced recently;

Table 8 indicates that the majority of the monitoring points in the Witbank Dam

Catchment were compliant with the Sulphate limit of 500mg/l;

Time Dependent Graphs for the Wilge River Catchment indicate spikes in pH (generally

acidic with multiple instances of pH below 4), EC, TDS, Sulphate, Aluminium, Iron and

Manganese;

Time Dependent Graphs for the Witbank Dam Catchment indicate spikes in pH

(generally acidic with multiple instances of pH below 4), EC, TDS, Sulphate, Aluminium,

Iron and Manganese.

Figure 4: Surface water Sulphate compliance map for the KLX project


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4.2 Groundwater Compliance

Table 9 represents the concentration of Sulphate for the groundwater monitoring points

established in the most recent groundwater study conducted by Groundwater Square; the data

represented includes the average concentration of Sulphate per monitoring point. For more

detailed data in terms of other parameters evaluated during water analysis, please refer to

Table 10.

Table 9: Groundwater SO4 compliance

Name Description Average

BHUG-1 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings 3.00

BHUG-2 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings DRY

BHUG-3 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings -


BHUG-5 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings -


BHUG-7 Historical Khutala Seam-5 U/G Workings DRY


KLX-B1M Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 2.00


KLX-B2S Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast -

KLX-B3D Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 6.00





KLX-B6D Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast 4.00

KLX-B6S Proposed future monitoring points close to Opencast DRY


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Comments:

Please refer to Figure 5 for a visual display of the groundwater compliance of the

groundwater monitoring points tabulated in Table 9;

From Table 9 it can be seen that all of the groundwater monitoring points are compliant

in terms of Sulphate concentration.

Figure 5: Groundwater Sulphate compliance map for the KLX project


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5 GENERAL COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 General Comments

Surface water monitoring points: 1604, 1605 and 7200 had no data for the reporting

period;

Surface water compliance was measured against correlating catchment RWQO’s;

Groundwater monitoring points: BHUG-2, BHUG-7 and KLX-B6S were noted as dry

during the sampling period;

KLX-B2S, KLX-B3S, KLX-B4S and BHUG-3 had no water quality data available, only

water level data which is included in Table 6;

Groundwater compliance was measured against SANS 241-1: 2015.

5.1.1 Surface water

As mentioned earlier, the Wilge River Catchment indicated spikes in: pH, EC, TDS,

Sulphate, Aluminium, Iron and Manganese:

o pH (acidic) spikes were noticed with multiple instances below 4, which is

worrisome due to the fact that Aluminium is pH dependent and at a pH below 4

Aluminium is present in its aqua phase (Al3+) which is highly mobile and toxic to

aquatic biota;

o EC (Electrical Conductivity) and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids/Salts) are

proportional. EC is the ability of water to conduct an electrical current and an

increase in dissolved salts which have the ability to carry a charge consequently

increases EC. EC could also be affected by an ion such as Sulphate which

carries an electrical charge and has an elevated concentration in this instance;

o The elevated levels of Aluminium, Iron and Manganese could be ascribed to

underlying geology such as Sulphide ores (FeS2) which cause elevated levels of

these specific constituents when it oxidises; the process is known as Acid Mine

Drainage (Oxidation of Pyrite (FeS2)).

Time Dependent Graphs for the Witbank Dam Catchment indicate spikes in pH, EC,

TDS, Sulphate, Aluminium, Iron and Manganese:

o pH (acidic) spikes were noticed with multiple instances below 4, which is

worrisome due to the fact that Aluminium is pH dependent and at a pH below 4


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Aluminium is present in its aqua phase (Al3+) which is highly mobile and toxic to

aquatic biota;

o EC (Electrical Conductivity) and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids/Salts) are

proportional. EC is the ability of water to conduct an electrical current and an

increase in dissolved salts which have the ability to carry a charge consequently

increases EC. EC could also be affected by an ion such as Sulphate which

carries an electrical charge and has an elevated concentration in this instance.

The overall Sulphate compliance for the B11F catchment is higher than for the

B20E catchment;

o The elevated levels of Aluminium, Iron and Manganese could be ascribed to

underlying geology such as Sulphide ores (FeS2) which cause elevated levels of

these specific constituents when it oxidises; the process is known as Acid Mine

Drainage (Oxidation of Pyrite (FeS2)).

5.1.2 Groundwater

The groundwater quality results are tabulated in Table 10 below:

Table 10: Groundwater quality results (adapted from: Botha, 2016)

Site Name Date pH EC

(mS/m) TDS

(mg/L) Ca

(mg/L) Mg

(mg/L) Na

(mg/L) K

(mg/L) Cl

(mg/L) SO4

(mg/L) TALK (mg/L)

NO3 (as N) (mg/L)

F (mg/L)

Fe (mg/L)

Mn (mg/L)

Al (mg/L)

1 - Target Level (<) 5.5

2 - Target Level (>) 9.5 150 1000 150 70 200 50 200 400 10.0 1.0 0.20 0.10 0.30 3 - Critical Level (<) 4.0

4 - Critical Level (>) 11.0 370 2400 300 100 400 100 600 600 20.0 1.5 2.00 1.00 0.50 BHUG-1 24-11-2015 7.5 20 110 17 8 6 2 2 3 66 7.0 <0.09 0.01 0.03 0.10

BHUG-4 24-11-2015 7.6 54 314 54 27 20 3 4 103 164 0.9 0.1 <0.01 0.12 0.07

BHUG-6 24-11-2015 7.6 28 150 10 4 40 4 4 20 112 <0.35 0.7 <0.01 <0.01 0.02

BHUG-8 24-11-2015 7.4 55 288 48 19 37 6 4 22 251 <0.35 0.4 <0.01 0.05 0.04

KLX-B1M 17-11-2015 7.0 13 63 9 3 6 3 16 2 32 0.5 <0.09 <0.01 0.07 <0.01

KLX-B2M 17-11-2015 7.4 19 98 22 7 4 4 1 5 92 <0.35 0.2 <0.01 0.05 0.05

KLX-B3D 17-11-2015 7.0 28 145 31 7 13 5 5 6 129 <0.35 0.1 <0.01 0.04 0.09

KLX-B4M 17-11-2015 7.1 29 170 33 6 9 5 5 5 74 13.8 <0.09 <0.01 0.06 0.02

KLX-B5M 17-11-2015 7.1 17 92 16 4 12 3 3 5 75 0.5 0.1 0.01 0.11 0.04

KLX-B6D 17-11-2015 9.0 20 103 11 5 21 3 6 4 88 <0.35 0.1 <0.01 <0.01 0.05

It can be noted from Table 10 above that the groundwater quality at these monitoring

points are of good quality and that the compliance level is very high;

The only spikes noted are Nitrate and Manganese and these concentrations are still at

the target level and have not reached a critical level;

The guidelines against which the groundwater quality results were measured can be

seen in Table 11 below.


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Table 11: Groundwater quality guidelines

Background water quality

SANS 241 - 2006 Domestic Water SANS 241 - 2015 Domestic Water

Class 1 * Class II ** Limit

pH 6.2-8.6 5 - 9.5 4 - 10 5 – 9.7

EC (mS/m) 20-70 <150 150 - 370 170 (Aesthetic)

TDS (mg/L) 80-400 <1000 1000 - 2400 120 (Aesthetic)

Ca (mg/L) <40 <150 150 - 300

Mg (mg/L) <15 <70 70 - 100

Na (mg/L) <25 <200 200 - 400 200 (Aesthetic)

K (mg/L) <10 <50 50 - 100

Cl (mg/L) <45 <200 200 - 600 300 (Aesthetic)

T.Alk. (mg/L) 10-200

SO4 (mg/L) <50 <400 400 - 600 250 (Aesthetic), 500 (Acute health)

NO3 - N (mg/L) <10 <10 10 - 20 <11 (Acute health)

F (mg/L) <1 <1.0 1.0 - 1.5 1.5 (Chronic health)

Fe (mg/L) <1 < 0.2 0.2 - 2.0 <0.3 (Aesthetic), 2 (Chronic health)

Mn (mg/L) <1 < 0.1 0.1 - 1.0 0.1 (Aesthetic), 0.4 (Chronic health)

Al (mg/L) <0.3 <0.3 0.3-0.5 <0.3 (Operational)

Respectfully submitted,

__________________

Stephan Kitching


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6 REFERENCES

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, 1996. South African Water Quality Guidelines.

Volume 7: Aquatic Ecosystems.

Groundwater Square. 2016. Groundwater Impact Assessment as input to the EIA/EMP

Amendment for the KLX Project. Unpublished report done by Groundwater Square for

Khutala Colliery. Reference no.: 185f_Khutala-KLX Project.

Jaco – K Consulting (JKC). 2016. Specialist Surface Water Reports as Input to the EIA for the

KLX Project. Unpublished report done by Jaco – K Consulting for South 32 SA Coal

Holdings (Pty) Ltd. JKC Reference no.: JKC_0580.

south32 sa coal holdings (pty) limited proposed south32 …

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