Mining communities are often excluded from benefiting from economic opportunities.

Benchmarks Foundation researcher, David van Wyk, was speaking as German and Swedish companies are looking into repurposing disused gold mines for hydroelectricity storage.

He says that many redundant mines are mostly owned by the City of Johannesburg, yet their economic opportunities are not being used.

Van Wyk says that many resources in these mines can be used or upgraded for electricity generators.

He says that this option should be explored as the land near mines can’t be used for agriculture or housing because of their toxicity.

[Header image: NS Energy]