Recent Submissions
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Open Access
The Electrochemical Response of Chalcopyrite and Galena to Degrading Water Quality
(2022-11-21) Ndamase, Nolihle; Tadie, Margreth; Corin, Kirsten Claire
Water is used as a liquid medium as well as a means of transportation during mining operations. Flotation, in particular, is a water intensive process where water makes up about 80–85% of the pulp phase. Process water contains organic and inorganic species which accumulate as they are recycled. To avoid the treatment costs of removing these contaminants, many mining operations allow the quality of their water to degrade over time. When this water is introduced into flotation circuits, the pulp chemistry is altered. Ionic species that accumulate in recycled process water have been shown by previous studies to be especially deleterious to flotation performance. Such ions include Ca2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, Pb2+, SO42− and S2O32−, amongst others. The flotation sub-process of collector adsorption which is responsible for inducing hydrophobicity on valuable mineral surfaces may be influenced by water chemistry. Accumulating ionic species have been shown to hinder collector adsorption which may reduce recovery of valuable minerals to the concentrate. Consequently, degrading water quality may threaten the economic viability of mining operations that make use of closed water circuits. Electrochemical techniques such as mineral rest potentials can be used to monitor the impact of changing water quality on collector–mineral interactions. Microflotation was used to determine whether mineral floatability was affected by changing water quality. This study therefore aimed to investigate whether electrochemical techniques such as rest potential measurements can be used to predict flotation performance under changing water quality. No definable relationship was found between the rest potential differences and the microflotation initial recoveries, however, rest potential measurements did identify the negative impact that thiosulphate ions may have on flotation processes.
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Open Access
Importance of ventilation and occupancy to Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission rates in congregate settings
(2022-09-19) Deol, A. K.; Shaikh, N.; Middelkoop, K.; Mohlamonyane, M.; White, R. G.; McCreesh, N.
Abstract
Background
Ventilation rates are a key determinant of the transmission rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other airborne infections. Targeting infection prevention and control (IPC) interventions at locations where ventilation rates are low and occupancy high could be a highly effective intervention strategy. Despite this, few data are available on ventilation rates and occupancy in congregate locations in high tuberculosis burden settings.
Methods
We collected carbon dioxide concentration and occupancy data in congregate locations and public transport on 88 occasions, in Cape Town, South Africa. For each location, we estimated ventilation rates and the relative rate of infection, accounting for ventilation rates and occupancy.
Results
We show that the estimated potential transmission rate in congregate settings and public transport varies greatly between different settings. Overall, in the community we studied, estimated infection risk was higher in minibus taxis and trains than in salons, bars, and shops. Despite good levels of ventilation, infection risk could be high in the clinic due to high occupancy levels.
Conclusion
Public transport in particular may be promising targets for infection prevention and control interventions in this setting, both to reduce Mtb transmission, but also to reduce the transmission of other airborne pathogens such as measles and SARS-CoV-2.
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Open Access
An Overview of Frontier Technologies for Land Tenure: How to Avoid the Hype and Focus on What Matters
(2022-10-31) Hull, Simon; Liversage, Harold; Rizzo, Maria Paola; Evtimov, Vladimir
Secure land and natural resource rights are key ingredients for rural transformation, social inclusion, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. In many cases, these rights are not formally recorded, and statutory land administration systems are inaccessible to rural communities. The rapid development of geospatial technologies and systems, combined with participatory methods for social empowerment, have contributed significantly to addressing these challenges and in developing fit-for-purpose land administration/land recordation systems that promote land tenure security, but with the plethora of options currently available, it is challenging to know which technologies are appropriate for what circumstances and purposes. This paper reports on the findings from a joint FAO/IFAD project that addresses this problem. Thirteen one-hour interviews were conducted with knowledgeable experts to showcase which technologies are being used for what purposes and by whom, the associated benefits and challenges, and what the future may hold. We conclude that technologies are best used in partnership with communities and as integrated solutions, that successful implementations must incorporate maintenance plans, and that the real challenge is not the technology–it is the social, legal, and political context. These findings are useful for governments, NGOs, academia, donors, and others involved in land-related projects aimed at benefitting small-scale farmers.
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Open Access
Sexuality and cultural heritage at odds: I Fuck What I Like, an ode to the young queer black woman in South Africa
(2021) Sibisi, Noluthando Mpho; Seane, Warona; Matchett, Sara
I write this paper as a theatre practitioner to complete a creative research project in line with complicating and archiving queer black women's narratives in the South African performance and literary canon. As a strategy of social reform, I aim to complicate what I argue to be an insistent narrative of queer black womanhood as emblematic of abjection by exploring the concept of queer black woman joy. I use Sara Ahmed's The Promise of Happiness, alongside Lethabo Mailula's theory of a tripartite erasure of queer black women, to frame what I consider to be queer black women's cultural heritage. In search of research methods, I turn to the work of Koleka Putuma, Zanele Muholi, Athi-Patra Ruga as my artistic influences, from whom I garner multivocality, collage, ode, and play as methods for my autoethnographic explorations concerning writing, performing, and archiving joy as part of the queer black woman narrative. This research project culminates in the writing, performance, and archiving of I Fuck What I Like as an ode to the young queer black woman in South Africa.
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Open Access
Towards a meaningful engagement approach to mining-induced displacements in South Africa: a legal comparative perspective
(2023) Mathiba, Gaopalelwe Lesley; Mostert, Hanri; Van Schalkwyk, Louie
A few decades ago, it might have been fair to argue that because mining activity is intrinsic to the country's economic growth and development, then everything else negative about mining should just be excused as a 'necessary evil' or 'acceptable collateral damage'. But not now. One of the negative impacts of mining activity is displacement of people. Gaining access to a mineral resource requires displacing local communities to make way for mining operations. This phenomenon is known as mining-induced displacement. In South Africa, Ghana and elsewhere, mining-induced displacements often result in the loss and damage of both tangible and non-tangible assets belonging to the displaced persons. These include homes, livestock, valuable resources, cultural sites, productive lands, social structures, tenure security over traditional lands and livelihoods. With mining-induced displacements, there is also a risk that displaced persons may find themselves homeless, marginalised, jobless and without access to their sustained livelihoods while having lost social cohesion and a sense of belonging. All these have negative bearing not only on the socio-economic realm of those affected, but cultural and moral interests as well. Beyond all these realities, there is not much we know about how and the extent to which meaningful engagement remedy - a dynamic adjudicative strategy devised by the South African courts - may present a solution to the unresolved issues around mining-induced displacements; how the courts have protected the vulnerable against evictions through this remedy; and how such protection could potentially be extrapolated to cover mine-affected communities against displacements in this context. That said, this thesis is an attempt at establishing the potential relationship between meaningful engagement and displacements in mining law. The thesis seeks to answer the overarching research question: How robust and consultative is the regulatory framework in addressing mining-induced displacements in South Africa and Ghana, and to what extent are these frameworks complied with in practice? As far as could be established, there has not been any comprehensive research undertaken to establish the potential nexus between meaningful engagement and displacement within the broader context of mining law in South Africa and Ghana. As such, this thesis advances the proposition that one way of looking at the problem of mining-induced displacement is by considering how the application of meaningful engagement remedy may be extended into mining law to address this unabated problem. The study makes several findings, at a broader level, on how consultative (akin to meaningful engagement) are regulatory frameworks on mining-induced displacements in the two examined jurisdictions. It is found that both jurisdictions have varying degrees of legal protection for the mine-affected communities against displacements. It is also found that there are notable international law norms and standards against displacements that may be instructive to and offer the best frame of reference from which the examined jurisdictions may improve their domestic response to the problem. The stronghold and novelty of this thesis lies in it being the first and by far the most comprehensive analytical research on the potential normative link between meaningful engagement as an adjudicative strategy and mining-induced displacement as a socio-economic and human rights issue from a comparative perspective with a spotlight on Ghana and South Africa; as well as in identifying and analysing more efficient legal mechanisms in international law to deal with the problem.