Soil covers have become an integral component in land rehabilitation, closure and post-closure management of coal mine residue facilities in regions of South Africa with a semi-arid climate. Well-designed and constructed soil covers can provide a cost-effective, source-directed measure to mitigate seepage impacts with minimal ongoing active mine water management.
The National Environmental Management Waste Act of South Africa provides opportunity to introduce risk-based assessment of soil covers as an option to mitigate seepage impacts for mine residue facilities. The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate that the overall performance of the soil cover option(s) will not exceed acceptable environmental limits, such as an Acceptable Water Quality Objective at a defined monitoring point.