Tin Mining and Sediment Supply in Peninsular Malaysia with Special Reference to the Kelang River Basin

G. BALAMURUGAN

HSS Integrated Sdn. Bhd., Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Summary
The paper discusses the tin mining industry in Malaysia and legislations promulgated to prevent environmental degradation due to mining activities. Soil erosion and sediment contribution from mining areas were studied by examining inflow and outflow sediment loads and stormflow s e d i m e n t transport characteristics at two sediment sampling stations in the Kelang River Basin. It was observed that despite the cessation of mining activities, rivers draining mining areas still carry high sediment loads. It was found that sediment yield increases by three to six times after the river passes through mining land. Low-flow sediment transport is more significant in the mining area compared to non-mining areas. Clockwise hytheretical loops observed at the two sampling stations indicate that sediment sources are located near the river and within the channel system itself.

Introduction
Tin mining activities have often been notoriously associated with sediment supply to river systems. This is especially true in Peninsular Malaysia where numerous authors have attributed excessive river siltation to discharge from tin mines (e.g. Fermor, 1939; Douglas, 1968; 1970; Aiken et al., 1982; Chong, 1985; Cheong, 1987; DOE, 1987; Low, 1987, Wymore, 1987). Sediment problems
* Mr G. Balamurugan was until recently a member of staff at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Malaya. He is now a practising water resources engineer, and may be contacted at HSS Integrated, 20-24, Jalan SS 21/62, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

from tin mining activities were first realised when Fermor (1939) estimated that some 16.26 million tonnes of sediment had been annually added into the river systems of Peninsular Malaysia from mining areas between 1909 and 1939. The effects of uncontrolled mining in Peninsular Malaysia during the late 19th and early 20th century have led to two problems, namely, the dereliction of mining land and the more general problem of progressive deterioration in the quality of river systems draining the mining areas. Although legislation controlling discharge from mines has been in existence since 1895, it has been seldom strictly enforced. Legislation introduced during the 1920s and 1930s which remains in force today, has proved generally to be effective in reducing the discharge of effluents, although sediment concentrations in rivers draining mining areas have remained high (Buck, 1969; Douglas, 1974). However, at least part of this sediment may be attributed to surface erosion from abandoned workings and tailing dumps. Erosion is thus, to some extent, the result of past, rather than current, mining activities. Despite its notoriety, literature on sediment transport from mining areas is scarce and papers addressing the subject are mostly descriptive rather than experimental. Among research efforts which provide quantitative information are those of Park (1979) and Knighton (1987). This paper is divided into two parts. First, the tin mining industry in Malaysia and related environmental legislation are described. The second part is devoted to examining patterns of soil erosion and sedimentation in mining areas with special reference to the Kelang River Basin.
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Volume 11, Number 4,281-291 (1991)