Research and Innovation

Prof Dr habil. Christian Wolkersdorfer

DST-NRF SARChI Chair in Acid Mine Drainage Treatment, Tier 1
Primary discipline: Hydrogeology and Hydrogeochemistry (January 2019 - December 2023)

​Prof Dr habil Christian Wolkersdorfer is a mining hydrogeologist with 32 years of experience in mine water geochemistry, hydrodynamics, geothermal applications as well as tracer testing, and he is a member of the Academy of Sciences South Africa (ASSAf).​

In 2014, he was awarded the South African Research Chair for Acid Mine Water Treatment at Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, and held the world’s first Industrial Research Chair for Mine Water Remediation & Management at Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was also the “Finish Distinguished Professor for Mine Water Management“ at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT University) in Mikkeli, Finland. He has taught hydrogeology, mining hydrology and tracer hydrology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich and Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, and within the AEG Masters programme at the University of Tübingen. 

He received his PhD from Technical University of Clausthal, Germany, and habilitated at the Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. He is President of the International Mine Water Association and Technical Editor of the journal “Mine Water and the Environment”. He has published more than 230 papers, books and book chapters in various journals and proceedings on hydrogeology, archaeology and mining-related topics.

The Research Chair will contribute to the solution of mine water related problems by conducting applied research on mine water management and treatment, and prevention of mine water pollution. It will focus on passive treatment technologies in remote areas and active treatment where local water sources or people may be directly affected by the pollution. Key active technologies will be passive treatment and the integration of different technologies into new water treatment methods, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to build the Internet of Mine Water (IoM). Research will also focus on understanding the mine flooding process itself and stratification in flooded underground mines through tracer testing and optimised monitoring methods. For this purpose, the Chair invented the world’s largest analogue model mine, the Agricola Model Mine (AMM). 

South Africa is confronted with one of the world’s largest mine water problems and if not properly addressed, the environment, heritage sites and local drinking water resources could be irreversibly affected. While there are technologies available to treat contaminated mine water, many are comparatively expensive or are unable to cope with the potential pollution expected in the Rand and other areas of South Africa. Most stakeholders expect the installation of active treatment technologies, but there may also be in situ options that can be used to address the problems. The research aims to understand the processes involved, disseminate this knowledge to the public and key stakeholders, and solve the most pressing cases in and around Gauteng.​

For more information, contact:
Name: Prof Dr habil. Christian Wolkersdorfer
Tel: +27 12 382 6433