| After 128 years of mining in Johannesburg the skyline is defined by mine tailings storage facilities. Recent finer milling of the ore creates more inhalable material, making it a major component of the tailings. Inhalation of quartz dust is a recognized occupational hazard causing a preventable, often fatal, disease called silicosis. Wind generated dust storms, comprised of inhalable tailings material, pose a confirmed health hazard to the residential communities situated within a few kilometers downwind of the facilities storing recently processed and ultra fine (< PM10) quartz dust. More than 500,000 people live within the downwind impact zones. A technique for tracing the tailings into the environment has been developed. It will be possible to apportion the silicon in routine monitoring samples to tailings and other sources. This work confirms and quantifies the fact that the change in the nature and subsequent behavior of tailings material creates a new risk to human health for those residents living close to the tailings storage facilities (TSF). |
