Sustainable development

Emalahleni water reclamation plant

Emalahleni water reclamation plant, a joint development between Anglo American Thermal Coal and BHP Billiton near Witbank in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, was originally intended to provide a solution to the operational, safety and environmental challenges associated with rising underground mine water. Today it represents a world-class sustainable development project with far-reaching benefits for its surrounding communities.

Of the 25 megalitres of water it purifies to potable quality every day, 18 megalitres are supplied to the Emalahleni local municipality, which for years has struggled to meet the water demands of the fast-growing Witbank area. All the water needs of Anglo American's Thermal Coal Greenside, Landau and Kleinkopje collieries, as well as its shared services departments, are met by the plant.

The ultimate goal of the plant, which operates at a 99% water recovery rate, is to become a zero-waste disposal facility. To do this, it needs to use its daily output of 100 tonnes of gypsum by-product constructively. Gypsum is costly to dispose of and is an environmental and post-closure liability.

The facility has launched two research and development projects that are likely to generate further socio-economic advantages. The first study is exploring the conversion of waste gypsum into sulphur, limestone and magnesite, while the second is investigating the by-product’s use in the fabrication of mining and building products.

South Africa’s backlog in low-income housing delivery, combined with the construction boom in recent years, makes alternative building materials derived from waste attractive products. As part of the study, Anglo American Thermal Coal has built a three-bedroom house constructed almost entirely out of gypsum-based building products.

In addition, Anglo American Zimele has created a black-empowered enterprise that uses a small portion of the plant’s water for the retail bottled water industry. The business has created seven jobs.

The Emalahleni plant has embarked on its second phase, which will increase its capacity to 33 megalitres of potable water daily. Investigations to implement similar projects in the Witbank-Middelburg coalfields in collaboration with the other major mining houses and the national power utility, Eskom, are in progress.