Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water

Dissertation (MSc (Agriculture Soil Science))--University of Pretoria, 2023.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Annandale, John George
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613679374041088
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Annandale, John George
author_browse Annandale, John George
author_facet Annandale, John George
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Agriculture Soil Science))--University of Pretoria, 2023.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/94994
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:58.958Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/94994 Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water Annandale, John George gideon.vdw16@gmail.com Tanner, Philip Dale Van der Walt, Gideon Stephanus UCTD Rehabilitation Irrigation Gypsiferous mine water Coal mines Mine water Open cast coal mine Agriculture Sustainable development goals (SDGs) SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-09 SDG-06: Clean water and sanitation Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-06 SDG-15: Life on land Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15 Dissertation (MSc (Agriculture Soil Science))--University of Pretoria, 2023. Utilizing mine water for irrigation on rehabilitated land will be beneficial for both the mining and agricultural sectors. Mpumalanga has thousands of hectares of rehabilitated land that were considered high-potential agricultural land before mining commenced. Years of research have been done on the use of mine water as an alternative water source for irrigation. The key objective of this study was to determine if circum-neutral mine water can be used for irrigation on rehabilitated land and what factors influence the irrigability of rehabilitated land. A soil survey, using a dryland classification system commonly used in South Africa, was done over an area of rehabilitated land at Mafube Colliery, Mpumalanga. A pivot irrigation system was established on this rehabilitated area to identify and determine the relationships between soil factors and plant growth. High variability in the soil’s physical and chemical properties were identified. The high variability identified in the rehabilitated land combined with the dryland soil potential system was used to identify different sampling areas to determine the factors that influence the irrigability of rehabilitated land. While it was not possible to grow a commercial crop in the first season, weeds were used as a surrogate for crop production to determine which factors affected growth. The results obtained from the weed assessment showed that there was a relationship between both chemical and physical properties of the soil and weed growth. Physical soil conditions, such as restrictive layers and severe compaction had a more significant effect than chemical properties. In the second cropping season, it was possible to establish a pasture mixture under irrigation on the rehabilitated land. Different hypotheses around the irrigability of the rehabilitated land were developed and tested. The final topography of the rehabilitated land proved to be a major factor influencing irrigability. Severe water ponding created difficult growing conditions in the rehabilitated field where poor growth was recorded. It was concluded that when factors like topography and infiltrability are combined with a dryland classification system the accuracy in predicting suitability for irrigation increases. If the correct rehabilitation methodology is followed using the guidelines (Land Rehabilitation Guidelines for Surface Coal Mines), there is no doubt that a more uniform site with acceptable conditions for irrigation and dryland could be created. This study proved that irrigating rehabilitated land with mine water is definitely worth pursuing and will be beneficial for mining and agriculture. Plant Production and Soil Science MSc (Agriculture) Soil Science Restricted Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences 2024-02-29T08:33:16Z 2024-02-29T08:33:16Z 2024-05-02 2023-08-15 Dissertation * A2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94994 10.25403/UPresearchdata.25306036 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Rehabilitation
Irrigation
Gypsiferous mine water
Coal mines
Mine water
Open cast coal mine
Agriculture
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-09
SDG-06: Clean water and sanitation
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-06
SDG-15: Life on land
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15
Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title_full Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title_fullStr Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title_full_unstemmed Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title_short Irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum-neutral mine water
title_sort irrigation of rehabilitated mine land with circum neutral mine water
topic UCTD
Rehabilitation
Irrigation
Gypsiferous mine water
Coal mines
Mine water
Open cast coal mine
Agriculture
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-09
SDG-06: Clean water and sanitation
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-06
SDG-15: Life on land
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94994