In our prior report, we outlined the environmental challenges faced with expanding Matla while preserving one of the larger wetland systems in Mpumalanga’s highveld, the sensitive and highly important Blesbokspruit/Rietspruit ecosystem.

In an example of innovation and nature working hand in hand, the team at Matla are going below the wetland using undermining, a technique typically used when a mine extends under a building, roadway or town. The team has adapted this approach into an innovative engineering design that allows them to proceed with the extension of Matla’s underground shortwall mining operation with minimal impact on the Blesbokspruit/Rietspruit wetland that lies above the surface.

The Matla wetland management project is one of Exxaro’s key biodiversity conservation projects. It is unique in that the water flow and function of the wetland is protected through a shortwall mining design that allows for even subsidence of the area. The entire wetland area will drop by 1,8m, thus avoiding the formation of ponds and ensuring the continued natural flow of water. The flow of water into the wetland is controlled in a way that protects the ecosystem and allows mining to continue without the risk of flooding.

The Blesbokspruit/Rietspruit wetland is one of the larger and more sensitive wetland systems in the area. Mining these coal reserves could have destroyed 120 hectares of identified non-channelled riparian wetland and another 132 hectares of the seasonally inundated non-channelled floodplain at the bottom of the valley. This innovative solution has ensured that the normal wetland function and biodiversity will remain intact.