Development of a computer-based advisory system for a selection of appropriate rehabilitation strategies for designated abandoned mine sites in Limpopo Province of South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: South Africa has many abandoned mines which seriously affect the environment and the livelihood of the host communities. The lack of in-depth knowledge of the problems of these mines, limited resources for their rehabilitation, lack of clearly assigned responsibilities for rehabilitation, and the absence of criteria and standards of rehabilitation have led to the use of inappropriate strategies to rehabilitate abandoned mines. The main objective of this research was to develop a computer-based advisory system for selecting suitable rehabilitation strategies for designated abandoned mines. The research methodology involved characterization of the selected abandoned mine sites, devising methods for prioritization of mine features for rehabilitation, development of three expert systems that provide guidance on different aspects of rehabilitation of abandoned mines, and development of a framework for estimation of costs of rehabilitation of abandoned mines. The first part of this research involved development of methods for characterization and prioritization of abandoned mine entries and tailings dumps as well as selection of strategies for rehabilitation. These methods were written in an expert system shell to create expert systems (ESs) for ranking of abandoned mine entries and tailings dumps for rehabilitation. The study also used semi-quantitative methods such as SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis as well as the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) technique and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Pugh Matrix to evaluate different strategies for their suitability to deal with the issues of abandoned mines. Based on the current situation of abandoned mines in the study area, a framework for estimation of costs of rehabilitation of abandoned mines was developed by taking into consideration direct cost and other key cost estimates which were previously disregarded. The method…
abstract: South Africa has many abandoned mines which seriously affect the environment and the livelihood of the host communities. The lack of in-depth knowledge of the problems of these mines, limited resources for their rehabilitation, lack of clearly assigned responsibilities for rehabilitation, and the absence of criteria and standards of rehabilitation have led to the use of inappropriate strategies to rehabilitate abandoned mines. The main objective of this research was to develop a computer-based advisory system for selecting suitable rehabilitation strategies for designated abandoned mines. The research methodology involved characterization of the selected abandoned mine sites, devising methods for prioritization of mine features for rehabilitation, development of three expert systems that provide guidance on different aspects of rehabilitation of abandoned mines, and development of a framework for estimation of costs of rehabilitation of abandoned mines. The first part of this research involved development of methods for characterization and prioritization of abandoned mine entries and tailings dumps as well as selection of strategies for rehabilitation. These methods were written in an expert system shell to create expert systems (ESs) for ranking of abandoned mine entries and tailings dumps for rehabilitation. The study also used semi-quantitative methods such as SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis as well as the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) technique and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Pugh Matrix to evaluate different strategies for their suitability to deal with the issues of abandoned mines. Based on the current situation of abandoned mines in the study area, a framework for estimation of costs of rehabilitation of abandoned mines was developed by taking into consideration direct cost and other key cost estimates which were previously disregarded. The method…
author: Mhlongo, Sphiwe Emmanuel
language: en
keywords: Abandoned mines, Rehabilitation prioritization, Expert systems, Cost estimation, Rehabilitation strategies
date published: 2020-09
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:57:35Z
provider: University of Venda
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Venda

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11602/1521