World Water Week 2019

Thriving Communities is one of the three global pillars of our Sustainable Mining Plan. But our communities need water in order to thrive.

Ensuring everyone in society has access to water is the theme of this year’s World Water Week and, across Anglo American, we work with regional partners, businesses, and authorities to apply a long-term approach to managing water to make sure it’s available to all of our communities.

We take local issues and sensitivities into account when we design water management practices for each location:

We take local issues and sensitivities into account when we design water management practices for each location:

In South Africa, working with government, regional water providers and other mining houses, we’ve developed a collaborative water strategy for the Limpopo region, which was launched in 2017. In 2018, we focused our efforts on forging partnerships between government and industry to speed up the development of bulk-water infrastructure improvements to supply the Olifants river catchment.

Coal South Africa is working on an innovative regional partnership, involving several stakeholders. Called the Green Engine project, its aim is to create a self-sustaining, agri-industrial hub that will use mine-affected land and mine water from a coal mine that is due for closure (see case study below).

At Los Bronces in Chile, we are working with local power plants, agricultural communities and our neighbouring mine, Codelco’s Andina, on a future-focused water strategy. In 2018, we partnered with the new Metropolitan Region Water Fund, which aims to contribute to the region’s water security.

In Quellaveco, Peru, we’ve developed a water-supply strategy that will deliver significant benefits to local communities.

The capacity of the new supply system that’s being built at the moment will exceed our needs, which means downstream communities will have a secure supply of good quality water. This system was developed through a dialogue process that included representatives from the government and local communities.

“It benefits the region by not only addressing almost all of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but potentially forming an integral component of Anglo American’s Sustainable Mining Plan."

Short term plans include vertical greenhouses, where produce is farmed in upright stacks, using less land and water than traditional farming and producing vegetables and herbs for export. There is scope for multiple greenhouses on the site, with each one employing up to 50 people.

“We are also investigating the potential for producing fit-for-purpose water on site using less energy intensive water treatment systems which can be linked to more traditional types of agriculture and could include the production of bio-energy, fibre-rich or high oil-containing plants,” added Ritva. “Another critical element to water management is effective storm water management and harvesting of the water before it comes into contact with spoils or discard material, thereby ensuring clean water is available for alternate use as part of the Green Engine initiative.”

Anglo American and water: some facts and figures

• Approximately 80% of our sites are in water-scarce regions
• We introduced a Group Water Management Standard in 2016
• All of our operations have to complete a detailed self-assessment and gap analysis against the Group Water Management Standard.
• This analysis should be complete by the end of this year.
• By 2020, we will have further reduced our fresh-water abstraction by more than 20% from our 2015 baseline
• By 2030 we will have a 50% net reduction in freshwater abstraction in water-scarce regions.

For more information on how we manage water in Anglo American, read our latest Sustainability Report here.