Mining experts flag looming environmental challenges at Lily Mine

Some mining experts have raised concerns about the looming environmental challenges of the now-derelict Lily gold mine near Barberton, in Mpumalanga.

The mine shut its doors in 2016 after a deadly structural collapse.

Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyirenda and Yvonne Mnisi were trapped underground a decade ago following the collapse of Lily Mine.

Their bodies were never recovered.

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The senior gold industry executive and CEO of Lions Bay Resources, Lloyd Birrell, said flooding in the Lily gold mine could have a spillover effect on the agriculture downstream if the water makes its way into the irrigation canal.

“The difficulty is that when water collects in a mine, a chemical process then takes place. Eventually, the water changes its pH. It can become extremely low, which means it's acidic, which means it dissolves other metals, like arsenic or manganese or, for example, nickel. These are not good things to have dissolved in the water.”

He said it also has a damaging effect for the local community.

“Now the community doesn't have safe drinking water anymore, and what we need to ascertain is whether or not that is caused by the huge volume of water sitting underground, which is mutating, either becoming excessively alkaline and with a low pH, which is not a good, not a good combination. So, there is a significant environmental component to reopening this mine.”