Our Sishen iron ore mine, which forms part of Kumba Iron Ore, and is located in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Despite being in a water-scarce area, Sishen is ‘water positive’, requiring active dewatering to maintain safe and effective operations.
Excess water is supplied to third parties, including the local municipality and the regional bulk water scheme, for potable and industrial use. When water cannot be taken, it is injected back underground through Sishen’s managed aquifer recharge programme at Khai-Appel.
Any significant increase in rainfall could lead to production delays, land erosion on and off site, as well as flooding and washouts along rail lines and port-loading facilities. As part of a comprehensive adaptive water management plan, taking into consideration extreme rainfall events, we have invested cumulatively c.$50 million in Sishen's stormwater infrastructure over the past decade.
Sishen has developed a globally recognised best practice, their ‘rain readiness plan’, focusing on proactive managing surface water to limit production impacts arising after rainfall events. This has since been adopted into an Anglo American best practice principle which is being rolled out across the portfolio.
