Sustainability / Environment / Air emissions

Air emissions

We reduce harmful emissions to air, water and land and use the highest reasonably practicable level of control from a recognised hierarchy of hazard controls to eliminate or minimise the impacts of our operations.

Approach

Xstrata is committed to measuring, controlling and reducing its harmful emissions to air.

Our most significant emission to air, apart from greenhouse gases, is sulphur dioxide (SO2), produced during our metallurgical operations. The Group’s largest source of SO2 is from the Mount Isa mine’s copper and lead smelters in Australia.

Reducing SO2 and NOx emissions

Xstrata operations that emit SO2 have set targets to reduce their emissions and increase the proportion of emitted gas that they capture:

At Mount Isa, our Copper and Zinc businesses are working together to assess the feasibility of increasing the capture and treatment of SO2 from their smelters to 95% by 2012 for the copper smelter and to 98% by 2013 for the lead smelter. These controls will also capture any trace amounts of heavy metals in treated smelter fumes;
For Xstrata Copper Canada the sulphur capture of >97% at Kidd and >95% at Horne has been achieved. No further short- or long-term targets, other than maintaining actual capture, are expected;
The Altonorte smelter in Chile has set a 2009 SO2 capture target of >95%; and
At Sudbury in Canada, Xstrata Nickel aims to reduce SO2 emissions to less than 25,000 tonnes per year by 2015, as well as cutting particulate emissions to less than 250 tonnes per year, a 40% reduction on 2006 levels. In 2008, Sudbury completed a pilot study on reducing furnace emissions using SO2 capture systems, with promising results. The site also completed a study exploring gas treatment options

Reducing emissions of dust and heavy metals

Dust and particulates containing heavy metals are dealt with on a site-by-site basis. At the Mount Isa smelter in Australia we have commissioned an independent study of the pathways of lead into the community, entitled the ‘Lead Pathways Study’.

Xstrata Copper’s Horne smelter in Canada is working to improve local air quality by halving its arsenic emissions from 2004 levels by 2010, at a cost of over $15 million (C$20 million). We analysed arsenic emissions throughout the plant and implemented a series of measures to reduce emissions and avoid contamination, including installation of a new concentrate storage facility and furnace hoods designed to capture fugitive emissions. We also installed a truck wheel washing station and purchased a vacuum sweeper truck to clean arsenic dust from on-site roads.

Last Modified on September 18 2009, 10:50:27 PST

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