We followed Frank, who works for our Platinum business in South Africa, to see how he’s helping to realise our strategy.
Day 1 – Biodiversity monitoring at Tumela mine
Frank is responsible for biodiversity at our Platinum operations and spent the day at Tumela mine, in the Limpopo province of South Africa, working with Kerrie and Walter from VulPro. VulPro is a local NGO that specialises in the rehabilitation and re-introduction of birds of prey back into the wild.
During the day, Frank and the VulPro team discussed what they can do to further enhance the work being done on our sites to protect and conserve the flora and fauna. As part of the biodiversity protection plan at Tumela, the team provides a dedicated area for vultures and other birds of prey to feed on safe food. These ‘vulture restaurants’ are critical for the survival of the birds, whose numbers have dramatically declined in recent years. Without these ‘restaurants’, the birds would face an uphill battle against feeding off contaminated caracal and jackal carcasses. Providing safe food for the birds helps maintain their numbers and ensure a stable ecological system.
Many of our mines have areas of land that are protected and managed as game reserves. At Tumela, about 3,000 hectares are protected and managed, with the ‘vulture restaurants’ forming just one part.
Day 2 – Sharing the value of biodiversity at the Environmental Training Centre
An important part of Frank’s job is to educate people on the value of flora and fauna in their local communities. On day two, Frank spent time explaining the importance of the various tree species in the area to Dida and Sharee who are educators at the Environmental Training Centre. The aim of the centre is to help local community members to help themselves, whilst also looking after precious resources. It is therefore important that Dida and Sharee have a broad understanding of the environment so they can teach the visiting community members.
As part of the curriculum, the centre runs an eco-schools programme which is designed to educate local children, from 22 schools, on how every tree in their local area has its own ecological benefits and supports a diverse range of species. For example, the trees provide food for animals, insects and people, help to prevent erosion and provide protection against extreme weather.
The eco-schools programme is only one part of the centre’s work; another is a permaculture course, derived to educate community members on how to live sustainably and provide not only for themselves but also produce crops that can be sold. Together, these initiatives help to ensure that the surrounding communities are exposed to a number of aspects of environmental conservation and are made aware of the value of their surroundings.
Day 3 – Creating a self-sufficient operation at Groenfontein farm
On day three, Frank visited Groenfontein farm. Established in partnership with local residents, the farm aims to grow vegetables for commercial purposes, whilst also growing and harvesting crops throughout the year for local community members, ensuring the land is well managed for both the short- and long-term. Whilst on the farm, Frank visited a commercial guar bean trial they are currently undertaking and worked with the production manager to understand the harvest they are expecting, as well as learnings from the trial.
Guar beans can be grown in very harsh environments on existing farm land (avoiding damaging virgin areas) and the bean powder is an important component in our ore floatation process to recover platinum group metals. Currently we are importing the bean powder; however, through the learnings from the trial, Anglo American Platinum hopes to grow the plants locally, creating jobs and sustainable livelihoods for the local community members.
Day 4 – Environmental impact assessments
Although a large portion of Frank’s job involves spending time in the field, he also needs to spend time in the office reviewing reports, environmental impact assessments (EIA) and developing guidelines.
On day four, Frank met with environmental coordinator, Mick, at Mogalakwena mine to go through his EIA for a new fuel storage facility. Mick currently has eight new projects on site and each one needs environmental authorisation from a regulator. Frank supports Mick by running through the environmental consequences (positive and negative) of the project plan and proposes best practice alternatives where necessary, to minimise the environmental impact.
Working in environmental management at a regional level means Frank is involved in a number of projects, like the new fuel storage facility, at any given time. Although the projects all have something to do with the environment, the focus for each may vary. On some, for example, water could be the focus area, while on another it might be air quality issues or hydrocarbon pollution. Although EIAs may lead to challenging business decisions, it is vital to go through this process in order to create a sustainable future for our business and the surrounding communities.
Day 5 – In the field sharing best practice at Mogalakwena mine
On the last day of our week following Frank he visited water officer Riaan, at Mogalakwena mine. A vital part of Frank’s job is to visit mines and their managers, inspecting operations and making sure that we’re continually monitoring our environmental performance. Working with Riaan, Frank spent time inspecting one of the mine’s water pollution control dams. The dams have to meet a range of stringent legal requirements as part of the site’s water licence, so they spent the day checking its condition. Such checks included, making sure the liner was in place, that there were no spillages and that the freeboard (difference between the crest of the dam and the normal reservoir water level) conditions were being met, all of which are requirements that need to be checked to understand the environmental performance.
Environmental managers like Frank are involved at all levels of an operation’s life-cycle; from planning to implementation and right through to closure.
Visit our YouTube channel and find out more about the great work Frank and his colleagues are doing.
