We aim to use water sparingly and efficiently, re-use what we can and release only water of an acceptable quality back into the environment.
Chief environmental officer Andre Britz captures data from a continuous water monitoring point
Our Emalahleni water reclamation plant in Witbank, Mpumalanga, continues to purify 25,000 cubic metres of mine water to potable quality every day. This meets the needs of several thermal coal operations and service departments, with the major portion being piped directly into to the water-stressed local municipality’s reservoir.
A pre-feasibility study into the expansion of the plant to a 50,000 cubic metres-a-day facility is under way as part of a long-term water-management solution for the company’s Landau colliery. The study is also exploring the possibility of treating polluted water from old and abandoned mines, which are currently under the custodianship of the Department of Mineral Resources.
Our platinum business’s joint venture, Bafokeng Rasimone platinum mine, re-uses the water from its return-water dam for operational processes, something that was achieved by installing a simple sand filter which removes unwanted water-borne solids. The monthly amount of potable water used by the process plant decreased from nearly 150,000 cubic metres in September 2008 to less than 60,000 cubic metres in June 2009.