Anglo American and POSCO come together for tree planting programme

On 18 August, we celebrated our longstanding relationship with POSCO, planting 400 native trees in Australia to mark our shared commitment to rehabilitating the environment and improving biodiversity outcomes in the communities where we operate.

South Korean steel producer POSCO is one of our key steelmaking customers, with whom we have built a relationship which has seen our two companies collaborate through the years to support the steelmaking industry across several of its key geographies.

On Thursday, 18 August, representatives from Anglo American and POSCO came together to celebrate their longstanding collaboration by planting more than 400 native trees at Anglo American’s Aquila Mine. Located near Middlemount in Central Queensland, Australia, the new Aquila Mine achieved its first longwall shear of steelmaking coal in February 2022, marking an important milestone for Anglo American’s Australian operations.

A mix of more than 6,000 native brigalow – a slow growing, long-lived, endangered species of Acacia found in central and coastal Queensland and northern New South Wales – and eucalypt trees were chosen to be planted in the area over the next six months, to support improved biodiversity outcomes for the local ecosystem and increase local koala habitat.

The event was held in the context of the POSCO-led ‘Go the Extra Mile’ programme, a fund introduced in 2019 with invites to suppliers to match POSCO’s funding commitment and build better futures for the communities in which they operate.

Joint funding from POSCO and Anglo American has provided US$200,000 to plant trees in a bushfire-affected region of Gangwon Province, South Korea and, with this recent milestone, in an area which was previously used for mining in Central Queensland.

Joining Anglo American and POSCO for the event were the local students from Middlemount Community School. The delegation was welcomed on the day by Traditional Owners of the area, the Barada Kabalbara Yetimarala people, with dancing and a traditional smoking ceremony.

Our longstanding relationship with POSCO spans a significant part of our product offering – from steelmaking coal to iron ore and nickel; materials which are crucial to the development of the steelmaking sector, a critical building block of modern life. This event celebrates our companies’ shared commitment to rehabilitating the environment and improving biodiversity outcomes in the communities where we operate.

Rod Elliott Executive Head of Marketing for Steelmaking Coal and Shipping

Environment Superintendent at Aquila Mine, Jesse Perrott, said the intention of the partnership was to improve biodiversity of the area and provide a natural habitat for koalas.

“Before we started mining, this area was cleared farmland. Our intention is to return the land to its original condition and vastly improve the biodiversity of the area before we hand it back to the community,” he said.

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