Council of Geoscience Vacation Programmes
CORE SCIENTIFIC OPERATIONS
GEOSCIENCE MAPPING
Geoscience mapping is a core function of the Council for Geoscience and forms the basis from which products and services that are of value to the stakeholders and clients are derived. It embodies the primary expertise of the Council for Geoscience and consists of several types of mapping, such as geological, geotechnical, geochemical, geophysical, seismological and marine geoscience mapping. The main aim of the Geosciences Mapping Function is to provide world-class (leading) geoscience solutions to stakeholders and customers to enhance the prosperity and sustainability of the resources of the country and the safety of its citizens.
Systematic geoscience reconnaissance mapping of the country on appropriate scales for national development has been conducted on land and in offshore areas within the territorial boundaries of South Africa. The information gathered feeds into the solutions provided by the Mineral and Energy Resources Function in the identification of potential and/or economic mineral deposits and energy resources, including geothermal energy and other natural energy resources such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and shale gas. Similarly, it will feed into the solutions provided by the Environmental and Water Function in the mitigation or avoidance of environmental geohazards, and with water resource assessments and protection. This includes the provision of adequate quantities of water to communities, industry and agriculture, and monitoring the use of water. Assistance to the Engineering Geoscience and Geohazards Function pertains to safe and sustainable human settlement and infrastructure development. All these support the Economy and Employment, Economic Infrastructure, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience and Inclusive Rural Economy focus areas of the NDP 2030.
ENGINEERING GEOSCIENCE & GEOHAZARDS
Engineering Geoscience and Geohazards denotes a specialised capability which provides services and consulting in this area through a huge information base and considerable expertise in the area of geohazards and disaster management. An adequate assessment of the geological environment is a prerequisite to formulating effective recommendations regarding the suitability of a site for sustainable human settlement and infrastructure development. Any structure or infrastructure interfacing with the geological environment can be constructed economically, perform safely, and can have a non-detrimental impact on other works and human lives only if all geological elements are accurately identified and their properties adequately measured and evaluated.
This requires, inter alia, the capability to identify and describe rock and soil types, rock mass and soil formation characteristics and groundwater conditions, and the recognition and description of the potential for phenomena such as sinkholes, flooding, erosion, slope failures, ground heave and subsidence and collapse. In addition, insufficient geotechnical investigations, faulty interpretation of results or failure to portray results in a clearly understandable manner may contribute to inappropriate designs, delays in construction schedules, costly construction modifications, use of substandard borrow material, environmental damage to the site, post-construction remedial work and even failure of a structure and subsequent litigation. The role of the Engineering Geoscience and Geohazards function is to monitor, assess and conduct targeted research on a wide range of natural hazards in order that policy makers and the public understand the need to enhance preparedness, response and resilience. The function plays an important role in developing models, methods, information and tools to analyse hazard risks and impacts related to infrastructure development, thus contributing towards the Economic Infrastructure, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience and Inclusive Rural Community focus areas of the NDP 2030.
The Geoscience Amendment Act (Act No. 16 of 2010) mandates the Council for Geoscience to, among others, be the custodian and curator of all geotechnical information in the country, as well as being a national mandatory authority in respect of geohazards related to infrastructure development. In other words, the Act empowers the Council for Geoscience to be the custodian of all geotechnical data with the purpose of advising and assisting government, state institutions, parastatals, private organisations and the general public by providing a complete geotechnical risk profile of the country. The mandate aims to ensure safe development on hazardous ground by taking all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure that adequate and sufficient geotechnical investigations are performed prior to any housing and/or infrastructure development.
MINERALS DEVELOPMENT
The Mineral and Energy Resources function of the Council for Geoscience aims to stimulate the minerals industry in order to increase exploration expenditure as a means of creating wealth for South Africa and the African continent. This stimulation will be achieved through the provision of precompetitive geoscience information that supports and facilitates onshore and offshore energy and mineral exploration in South Africa. The information and data form the basis for long-term investment by industry and society in the mineral and energy sectors to ensure stable employment and prosperity, as well as to guide government policies on minerals development. This is achieved through integrated programmes of data gathering and assessment conducted at a national and a regional scale.
The Council for Geoscience undertakes activities of national strategic importance that support government programmes such as the NDP 2030 (Economy and Employment, Economic Infrastructure, Inclusive Rural Economy focus areas), the New Growth Path and the Integrated Resource Plan, which seek to eradicate poverty, to promote the creation of employment, energy security, diversification of the economy, including the promotion of the green economy, and to promote growth by identifying six priority sectors focussed on infrastructure and rebuilding the productive sectors of the economy, including mining.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER
The South African mining industry is relatively mature and the focus is shifting from exploitation to rehabilitation and the need to address the mining pollution legacy produced by past mining activities. Furthermore, the social and economic wellbeing of communities is related directly to the health of the environment in which they live, produce their food and work. In addition, adequate access to sustainable, potable water sources is critical to the health of communities and for rural development and focus will be on delivering projects that address this need. Thus, business growth in the Environmental and Water function will focus on soil, water and surface pollution and the preservation of sensitive environments. The basic geoscience knowledge infrastructure and an understanding of geological processes underlie the management of all the above-mentioned environmental hazards.
The development of expertise to contribute meaningfully to the management of these processes should unlock significant business opportunities. With regard to water resource assessment and protection, field investigations within the function will focus on the physical and chemical processes associated with subsurface water bearing environments, as well as the socio-economic and institutional aspects that affect the management of these resources.