eMalahleni Plant wins international award

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The awards acknowledge outstanding achievement and innovation in the international coal industry and its value chain. The plant, situated in the Witbank coalfields, won the category for projects that deliver outstanding contributions in reducing the environmental footprint of coal.

"The eMalahleni Water Reclamation Plant is a shining example of how an environmental liability - mine water - can be transformed into an asset with extensive benefits for the local community, the environment and our own operations," said CEO of Anglo American's thermal coal business, Godfrey Gomwe.

Supply to municipality

Since it was first commissioned in 2007, the facility has treated in excess of 49-billion litres of contaminated underground mine water to pristine quality, 34-billion litres of which have been supplied to the critically water-stressed eMalahleni local municipality.

The plant currently has the capacity to treat a daily 30-million litres of water to potable quality, the bulk of which is piped directly to the eMalahleni local municipality's reservoirs. The rest is sent to other Anglo American operations which are now self-sufficient in terms of their water requirements.

The expansion of the plant is set for completion during the first quarter of 2014 and will increase its current treatment capacity to 50Ml/day, peaking at 60Ml/day. Negotiations with the municipality are currently underway for the provision of additional water from this increased capacity.

"eMalahleni has been identified as a growth node for the region, and we are strategically positioned to provide the area with access to a clean and reliable source of water. Water is directly related to growth and development and without it neither industry nor communities can grow," says the company's head of safety and sustainable development, Philip Fourie.