South Africa "[overindulged] in more than 120 years of lucrative gold mining," Business Day reported. The nation "now has a massive hangover to deal with: to start closing down depleted mines."
"South Africa is battling acid mine drainage, which occurs when water that floods cavernous areas previously mined for gold becomes infiltrated with toxic chemicals, including uranium, and leaks into rivers. About 6,000 abandoned mines litter the country, many of them gold mines. Few environmental regulations were in place until the mid-1990s," Bloomberg reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment