MineWatch.org

Phil Mattera’s report, “Anglo American: Rhetoric or Reality?” Is the gift that keeps on giving. Our new favorite section is when he discusses Anglo’s pollution of groundwater in South Africa. Mattera writes,

Numerous leaks and spills have occurred at South African mines operated by AngloGold. At one mine, chronic overflows of mine tailings water have degraded surface and groundwater of the Vaal River, and at another mine the overtopping of containment structure caused slurry to flow into the backyards of four houses.

But the story goes on…

Along with the Vaal River spills, AngloGold has experienced incidents at other South African mines such as West Wits and the Ergo processing plant (which Anglo sold in 2007). These include spills at the Ergo plant that affected nearby residential areas, including one incident in which slurry flowed into backyards of four homes due to an overflowing containment structure, and another where slurry from a tailings pipeline spilled into an urban area.

For those of you not familiar with mining parlance, slurry is water (or a another liquid) containing a high concentration of suspended solids – like cement for instance. Needless to say it’s no fun having tons of it deposited into your backyard. It seems a pattern is emerging here. First Anglo pollutes the water in Nevada, then South Africa where will they do it next? Hmmmm…