Water

Fundamental element in mining activity

Water is a fundamental element in mining activity and is used in the whole process, from extraction to obtaining of deliverables. Anglo American, concerned with its operation and the environment, has implemented corporate guidelines and goals focused on the use of this resource so as to prevent and reduce environmental and social impacts.

Anglo American’s world goal is to reduce by 15% water consumption in all of its subsidiaries (90 million cubic meters) by 2014, having as base 2004.

In 2009, with the implementation of the Water Resource Sustainable Reuse Project it was possible to reuse water at the Alloy Recovery Unit (URL), located at the Catalão ferroniobium production plant, thus increasing the consumption of recirculation water and decreasing the need for intake of underground water. The works for raising the crest of the dam (phosphate operations), purpose of which is to increase the accumulation of rain water in the reservoir, continued during 2009.

A practical example of this commitment is the Barro Alto Project, developed with a closed water circuit (less than 5% of evaporation losses), which provides for reuse of rain water in its industrial processes. To this end, a reservoir with capacity for 2 million liters is being built to collect, cool and re-circulate water inside the project’s industrial plant. This reservoir has been filled since August 2009 and as of 2011 with the start of operations of the new nickel plant, it will supply the water recirculation system which will feed the whole operation, restricting the need for new intakes only to replacement of marginal evaporation losses.

Water consumption at the Niquelândia unit continued to drop in 2009, meaning that the awareness work and operational improvements to decrease waste and promote greater reuse of rain water collected in the dam are bearing fruits.

With regard to water management, Anglo American considers as reuse water the water used in the production process at least twice without any type of treatment. In turn, recycled water is the water used once again in the process after undergoing treatment.

In 2009, all Anglo American operations recycled and reused practically the same volume of water as 2008, or approximately 59 million cubic meters. However, in proportion to the total volume consumed, the percentage of recycled and reused water was 83%, 5% above the total registered in 2008.

As to water sources affected by water withdrawals, the Catalão phosphate unit withdraws 5% or more of the annual average volume of Ribeirão Taquara II, which in 2009 registered average flow rate of 550 m³/h. For other company units, there are no cases of withdrawal greater than 5% of the annual average volume of water sources. These plants are not located in protected areas.

In 2009, calculation of water disposal impact was made differently from previous years, on account of a study developed to assess the ecotoxicity of the effluent. In Cubatão, disposals were equivalent to more than 5% of the annual average volume of the waterway, which registers an average flow rate of 400 m3 per hour, as there is a seasonal variation of 100 to 4,900 m3 per hour.