Comparison of designs for the dewatering of Coal, Gold and Diamond Mines in Southern Africa

Although the fundamental premises underlying the choice of mine dewatering design are the same for all mines, experience on Southern Africa Mines has shown that there are differences between the designs adopted by gold, coal and diamond mines. These are primarily in the areas of approach, methodology, design and application. The major contributing factor to the choice of dewatering design adopted is the initial perceived life-of-mine. Two mines of the same age can have very different designs depending on the original planned life of mine. Case histories are given with details of the dewatering designs.