Technological feasibility and cultural acceptability study of solar power systems for microwave assisted sandstone artisanal mining

This paper investigates the technical feasibility of microwave assisted artisanal mining in the production of Sandstone from QwaQwa in South Africa. It further discusses the cultural acceptability by the rural community of the synergetic application of the emerging technology (microwave energy) and the renewable resource (solar). Sandstone in QwaQwa, Free State is artisanally mined using chisels and hammers. This form of mining is extensively laborious and is normally accompanied by numerous casualties . The paper demonstrates the existence and the possible utilization of alternative methods including emerging technologies which are more productive, efficient, effective and sustainable. The solar energy systems are used to trigger the microwave magnetron which results into high energy microwave dosage. The dosage causes differential or selective heating on the rocks which culminate into rock breaking along the interfacial grain boundaries between the different constituting minerals. The data used in the analysis was collected by administering questionnaires to the artisanal mining community in QwaQwa and from observations made on site as well as desktop information obtained from secondary sources. The paper contributes to knowledge by drawing on the solar energy systems to generate the dosage required to trigger the microwave magnetron used to facilitate a more efficient and economical artisanal mining of sandstones. In conclusion the paper recommends to policy makers the application of microwave energy in mineral artisanal mining and processing instead of the manual chisel and hammer currently being utilized country wide. It then gives a detail analysis of the technical, scheduling and economic analysis of the sandstone artisanal mining in QwaQwa.