An Evaluation of Sand and Gravel Extraction in Nzhelele River Valley, Limpopo Province of South Africa Humphrey Mathada and Edmore Kori Department of Geography and Geo-Information Sciences, University of Venda, Private bag X5050 Thohoyandou, 0950, Limpopo Province, South Africa Abstract. The demand for construction sand and gravel is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and consequent growth of building activities. This has resulted in increasedextraction of sand and gravel from in-stream and floodplain areas leading to serious ramifications on river basin environments. The lack of adequate information on the environmental impacts of sand and gravel extraction is a major challenge to regulatory effort in many developing countries. This study highlights the environmental impacts of sand and gravel extraction from the in-stream and floodplain areas of Nzhelele River Valley, Limpopo Province of South Africa. Field surveys and interviews were conducted to collect data. Data collection focused on identification of environmental aspects and their magnitude.The impacts identified included collapsing riverbanks dust and noise resulting from the operations. Using an aspect significance-measuring matrix,dust and noise pollution were found to be the environmental aspects with the highest magnitude of impacts. Itis suggested that formalised and enforceable regulations be formulated and implemented for the overall improvement of mining of sand and gravel from the uplands, rivers and their floodplains. Keywords: Evaluation, Gravel extraction, Environmental impacts, Environmental aspects. 1. Introduction Sand and gravel are very important raw materials in the construction industry. The demand for these materials is increasing more rapidly because sand and gravel form part of every construction infrastructure (Martin-vide, Ferrer-Boix&Ollero, 2010). The extraction of sand and gravel is causing a variety of impacts on the biophysical environment. Disproportionate in-stream sand and gravel mining degrades rivers and lowers the stream bedsresulting in riverbank erosion (Kondolf,Smeltzer& Kimball, 2002). The mining of these aggregates (sand and gravel) on the flood plains, called dry-pit mining,causes a variety of impacts on vegetation and the soil structure. The excavated pits on the floodplains affect the water table (Kondolf, 1997) and are mostly a threat to the surrounding communities as the miners usually leave without rehabilitating them. The objectives of this paperare to identify and evaluate the magnitude of the impacts of sand and gravel mining and to suggest measures of reducing their impacts on the environment. Following this introduction is an outline of the methods used in the study followed by results and discussion. The paper closes with some conclusions and recommendations. 2. Methods 2.1. Data Collection The study employed a quantitative method of measurement and evaluation.Primary data was obtained through key informant interviews as well as field observations.The key informants were the sand and gravel miners. A camera was useful during field observation to capture pictures to supplement the interview data. Six operational sand and gravel mining sites and eight abandoned siteswere visited to document the various environmental impacts arising from the activities. 2012 3rd International Conference on Biology, Environment and Chemistry IPCBEE vol.46 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore DOI: 10.7763/IPCBEE. 2012. V46. 28 132