THE bursting of the Jagersfontein mine dam in the Free State shocked other communities living around tailing dams.
Communities in Khuma, outside Stilfontein in the North West, approached Daily Sun with concerns regarding their health and safety.
Kareerand Dam is the Harmony Gold Mine tailing dam which is close to the Khuma community.
Dineo Moletsane said: “We’ve been living close to this dam for some time now, but happened at Jagersfontein worries us. What if this dam also bursts?”
Daddy Sechaba said there was no consultation with the community when this dam was built.
“We saw a new contractor coming to this dam again and we understand that it will be extended, but how safe are we as the community?” he said.
Meanwhile, a resident who asked to remain anonymous told Daily Sun that the dam has dangerous acids that might put their health at risk.
ALSO READ: Another mine dam collapse in JAGERSFONTEIN
Speaking about Kareerand Dam, Harmony Gold Mine’s Jared Coetzer said: “The dam has been designed with the maximum controls in place as per best practices to ensure that there is no dam failure.
“The operation of the dam is meticulously managed. Internally, we have a hierarchy of controls which ensure that the dam is checked daily and externally audited on a quarterly basis.”
He said despite the record rainfall experience in parts of Mzansi this summer, they have not experienced any problems.
Coetzer said: “We have had no incidents or problems at our tailing dams.
“This demonstrates how our focus in compliance and safety is yielding the desired results and reducing risks.”
The mine said the Khuma community is located upstream of the dam which greatly reduces the risk of any losses in the highly unlikely event of a failure.
About chemicals, the mine said it does not use mercury in its processes.
Coetzer said: “We think people are mostly concerned about the cyanide being used in our processes. Cyanide going out to our tailings dams is of incredibly low concentrations.
“It is well contained on the surface of the dam, enabling the cyanide to be rapidly degraded by the sunlight.”
The mine said all the water deposited in its dams is quickly recovered to its penstocks and recycled back to the plant for re-use.
“Uranium levels being deposited in the dam are also incredibly low and our public health surveys confirm that there is no health exposure,” Coetzer said.
