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Johannesburg - Pamodzi Gold's (PZG) East Rand operations and the department of minerals & energy (DME) are at odds over a R5m emergency package, Afrikaans newspaper Beeld reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the DME promised the operation R7.5m
but the cash-strapped mine had not yet received the funds despite the department claiming to have handed over R5m of that amount.
The mine has appealed to the DME for emergency funds to pump acid water from the mine so that it can prevent an environmental disaster.
Mine manager Graham Chamberlain told the newspaper that the mine, which is under interim liquidation, may also not be able to pay its 4 200 employees tomorrow.
Chamberlain said that the mine management had to now decide whether to pay salaries or continue pumping water from underground.
He said if the pumps were stopped it would result in an environmental disaster that would have far-reaching consequences.
If pumping ceased it would be a matter of days before the underground pump station began to flood, which would have catastrophic repercussions for the East Rand basin.
Mining Weekly reported that by failing to treat the acid mine drainage water properly, or by not treating it at all, tons of poisonous ferrous and ferric salts would flow into the Blesbokspruit river.
Chamberlain told Mining Weekly on Tuesday that the mine had 12 hours of pumping left.
"We won't survive the long weekend," Chamberlain said.
- I-Net Bridge