Anglo American's eMalahleni water reclamation plant endorsed by UN

The UNFCCC's Momentum for Change initiative aims to promote a workable framework to combat climate change by raising the profile of successful adaptation and mitigation projects and effective private-public partnerships in developing countries.

Peter Gunther, head of sustainable development at Anglo American, commented: "The recognition is testament to the plant's considerable success. Since the eMalahleni water reclamation plant was commissioned in 2007 it has created far-reaching benefits for the environment, the local community and its feeder collieries and has received widespread endorsement as a beat practice model."

"The eMalahleni Water Reclamation plant was designed to take into account the remaining 20 to 25 year life of contributing mines, and to cater for post closure liabilities. Ultimately, it will help address long-term climate adaptation risks and promote a sustainable future for the region, providing better flexibility and self-sufficiency in terms of water usage," Gunther said.

Plans to increase capacity

eMalahleni is a public-private partnership undertaken by Anglo American's Thermal Coal business, BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (BECSA) and the eMalahleni Local Municipality. Situated in the Witbank coalfields of the Mpumalanga province, eMalahleni uses the latest water purification technology to desalinate 30 mega litres of water to potable quality per day, with plans to expand capacity to 50 mega litres per day by the end of 2013. This rising underground water is sourced from Thermal Coal's Landau, Greenside and Kleinkopje collieries, as well as from BECSA disused South Witbank mine.

The majority of this water is then pumped directly into the eMalahleni local municipality's reservoirs, meeting 20% of the daily water requirements of the water stressed region, which consists of 510 000 people.

To date, eMalahleni has treated 30 billion litres of water and supplied 22 billion litres of water to the eMalahleni local municipality. The plant also supplies eight mega litre litres of potable water per day to Zibulo mine, Anglo American's Inyosi Coal Project, BECSA's Klipspruit mine and the Phola coal washing plant, a joint venture between the two mining houses.