Water
Mining requires large quantities of water and also generates wastewater. We recognise that water is a vital resource that we share with others so we are committed to always using it efficiently and to protecting its quality.
We are rigorous in planning and monitoring our water use. Before we build or expand a mine, we carry out detailed assessments of the water we will need, what the community requires and any risks to water quality from our operations. We have some mines in particularly arid regions of Australia, Argentina, South Africa and Chile where water may be scarce. Where this is the case, our teams must meet stringent targets to use water more efficiently.
Before we discharge water into a receiving body of water such as a river, we first monitor its quality and treat it to remove any harmful substances. Then we check the quality of the river. Nothing is left to chance.
Water availability
Operational demand for water can vary significantly across our sites. Some metallurgical processes - such as concentrating, cooling, refining and transporting metals as slurry - are particularly water intensive. Annual water use is closely linked with production volumes and product demand.
Many of our sites are located in arid regions across Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa that can experience periods of drought. We require those sites that are designated as water scarce to:
- develop and implement water conservation plans in collaboration with local communities and other stakeholders
- set water intensity targets
- take water efficiency measures
In 2010, we endorsed the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, a unique public-private initiative that helps companies to develop, implement and disclose water sustainability policies and practices.
We are progressively increasing the amount of water we recycle and reuse. Water recycled through processing plants is often used for dust suppression. Capturing storm water provides an important alternative water source that helps us further reduce our reliance on fresh water drawn from local surface water, or groundwater resources.
Water quality
We carefully monitor the water quality of our discharges and the receiving bodies such as rivers and estuaries to ensure that the treated effluents we discharge off-site do not impact local water quality and the natural environment.
We employ measures to remove harmful substances, such as suspended solids and heavy metals, and treat chemical imbalances such as acidity and alkalinity through wastewater treatment before it is released off-site.
Impacts to local water quality can also occur from unexpectedly large stormwater and flooding events. We’ve invested substantially in stormwater management at several locations in South Africa and at Mount Isa in Australia, which are particularly prone to these occurrences.
We are open to working collaboratively with other mining companies that have operations close to ours, where this makes sense. For example, Xstrata Coal South Africa and Anglo American plc are looking at using an existing Anglo American water treatment plant to deal with effluents from both companies.
In Australia, Xstrata Coal participates in a salinity trading scheme that has helped restore the quality of the Hunter River, to the benefit of nearby farmers and the community as a whole.
