World Environment Day 2021 – leaving a positive and sustainable legacy

#GenerationRestoration - the theme of the UN's World Environment Day 2021 on 5 June – speaks to our global approach of mine rehabilitation, and to our Purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

A mine continues to have social and environmental impact long after the end of its operational life. As an essential part of our sustainable operations in any country, working with all stakeholders to address social impacts, and starting to restore the land around our operations while they are still active is one of our main priorities at Anglo American. Through effective and responsible closure planning and rehabilitation, our aim is that we leave a positive, healthy and sustainable legacy long after our mine gates shut for the last time.

To mark World Environment Day and to showcase some of the great work we do as an environmentally responsible company, here we take a look at one of our rehabilitation projects - our Dawson metallurgical coal mine in Queensland, Australia.

As we move forward on any rehabilitation agenda, partnerships with outside organisations are always proving to be of great importance. A short while after its closure the Dawson mine has teamed up with Komatsu - leading provider of heavy equipment, technology and services for the mining, construction and forestry industries. The partnership called Growing Together, aimed to return mined land to agricultural use, and support the re-establishment of native plant species using the latest reclamation methods.

Growing Together started with employees from both companies working together to plant more than 4,000 trees at Dawson mine in March 2020 where they were joined by around 40 students from three local schools and Traditional Owners from the Gangulu Nation, with plans for a second planting in 2021. As a result of the collective work, various native eucalyptus species across a 90-hectare site where mining activities have ceased, were planted.

The planting included a pilot of biodegradable COCOON® planting technology which uses tree incubators made from wax-reinforced recycled carton, reduces the need for irrigation, requires 100 times less water than traditional methods, and has the potential to raise tree survival rates to at least 90%.