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Title
International cooperation and technology transfer
Author
Mussio, Luigi

395
ISSUES AND APPROACHES IN MAPPING THE IMPACTS OF MINING ON THE
ENVIRONMENT IN AFRICA
(WITH TEST CASE FROM KITWE MINE, ZAMBIA)
Dr. Tsehaie Woldai*, Mr. Daniel Limptlaw**
* International Institute for Aerospace Survey & Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, The
Netherlands
Department of Mining Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
ISPRS Commission VI Working Group 3
Abstract
Primary industries such as mining and agriculture form the backbone of developing economies
throughout much of the world. In this regard, countries in Africa are no exception. From the
colonial period until the present, these countries have relied heavily on the utilization of natural
resources. As a result, a century of such production driven, environmentally insensitive policies has
led to massive soil degradation and contamination, toxic vegetation, groundwater (surface and
subsurface) pollution, mine dump disposal and landscape defacement around the mining areas.
The mine areas are not only the most densely populated part of the country but also the most
urbanized. Urban centers developed along with the mines as their nuclei and hence they pose spatial
problems. The conflict for land between the needs of a growing urban population and the
requirements of the mining industry is already sharpening that it needs an urgent and swift response
before it erodes and becomes a destabilizing factor to many of this countries. This paper first
analyses the mining activities and impacts often visible in many African countries and the
challenges awaiting the African scientists in making such problem(s) visible in the decision making.
A systematic and multi-disciplinary approach of mapping, monitoring and controlling the impact
caused by the mining activities is advised. In most of the African countries (with a long history of
mining or in process) however, the original baseline data or current environmental status concerning
this activity is unknown or missing. As a start therefore, it is challenging to define the areas in
which the problem arises.
Priority in this direction, will be the delineation of the exact location of the mine works, waste tips
and land cover changes. This can be achieved using remotely sensed data. The Kitwe mining area in
Zambia, assessed using such data, fully justifies these expectations.