Towards Rehabilitation
Blyvoor Gold Mine, Carletonville, Johannesburg
Carletonville is one of the areas with the deepest gold mines in the World. There are around 20 tailings in the area with up to six different mining companies operating independently, of which many remain active today. There are already numerous actions that anticipate a sustainable post-mining regeneration of the extraction points. In the case of Carletonville, a proposal of a graduate plan to transform the tailings of the area to active agricultural fields in cooperation with the A.R.C.CA.DI.A, converts the degraded area to a new center. The first step includes the development of a research center for examining the soil, preparation infrastructure for the clearance and plantation of the soil and a small piece of fields where test plantation will be happening. The second step consists of the extension of the agricultural fields with the approved plantation products. The third step is the relocation of the research infrastructure to the nearest tailing along with the fields continuing the clearance and plantation of the soil. At the end of these steps each tailing will be an autonomous agricultural production center with the necessary infrastructure to maintain and preserve itself.