An investigation of the environmental impact of surface diamond mining along the arid west coast of South Africa

An outline of the main features of the West Coast environment establishes that it has potential value for recreation, tourism and nature conservation,in addition to that of diamond mining, and that it is sensitive to disturbance. The diamond mining process is analysed and mining actions that cause environmental impact are identified. A matrix approach is employed to relate particular mining actions to specific environmental elements. It is found that there is major impact on scenic and vegetation elements and that primary impact is magnified significantly through the process of wind erosion. It is argued that much environmental impact can be prevented if the objective of environmental protection was incorporated into the management of mine sites and that unavoidable impact can be mitigated by rehabilitation,which is a reasonable requirement.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Environmental and Geographical Science

Year dc:date.issued

1982

Author dc:creator

• Talkenberg, Wolfgang F M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Fuggle, Richard Francis

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9935

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9935