Performance review

Environment

Highlights

  • Water management programme introduced, supported by revised policy and management standard
  • Group standards implemented for air quality management, biodiversity management, rehabilitation and mine closure management, and incident management
  • Exxaro in top three mining companies on carbon disclosure standards in South Africa and participated in the first water-disclosure initiative issued by global body, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
  • Record integrated water use licences approved

New water management programme

Water management is a material issue for Exxaro. During the year a water management programme was
finalised, drawing on internal and external expertise, and funds approved for implementation. The programme
is based on a wide-ranging group water management policy and standard, and includes Exxaro’s waste
management activities through integrated water and waste management plans being developed for each
business unit that encompass:
  • Quantitative impact assessment and prediction of future impacts (pollution sources and receiving environment)
  • Water supply
  • Water resource conservation and/or reuse and reclamation
  • Storm water management
  • Process water management
  • Water treatment
  • Pollution control dams
  • Groundwater management
  • Waste management (domestic waste and industrial residues)
  • Water and salt balances
  • Monitoring and auditing systems.

The aim of this comprehensive programme is to achieve responsible and sustainable water management use across Exxaro. The programme will concentrate on relevant water-risk issues - from security of supply and water efficiency to water-cost management - and manage these to ensure current and future anticipated regulatory compliance. Exxaro also plans to create awareness of water issues through communication and training, and wider competency in water-management issues through research and skills development. Initial areas of focus include reporting and assurance, measurements and data, technology solutions and management principles.


 

Material issue - Water use

For any company to truly understand its water use, and the impact of its activities on water, measurements and data on quality, quantity and cost are essential. Exxaro’s data on the first two factors is relatively well established, and processes are being strengthened to ensure that cost is a standardised reporting indicator across our business units.

Exxaro is investing in systems to more accurately measure water withdrawal by source at each operation. This will in turn provide a better understanding of our broader impact (water withdrawal, reduced access to water, loss of natural water resources, reduced agricultural activity) and our specific environmental impact (withdrawal impact on source, potential lowering of water table, reduced flow, draining of wetlands, downstream activities).

The group is also enhancing systems to measure total water discharge by quality and destination. This will enable us to address specific impacts of water discharge on the receiving environment, as well as other environmental issues around quality and quantity (including total dehydration of source, loss of wetlands and associated fauna and flora, degradation of the quality of the resource due to pollution).

To determine the level of reporting maturity on these factors across our operations, site visits began with Grootegeluk, Exxaro’s largest operation.   

Reportable data types

 

A steering committee of subject-matter experts, environmentalists and members of senior management reports to the Exxaro executive committee and board sub-committee for safety and sustainable development. The programme is supported by a stakeholder engagement and communications process that will be rolled out in 2011.

One of the early successes of the programme was Exxaro’s recent submission to the first CDP Water Disclosure, a voluntary but detailed submission on water-related data that will provide valuable insight into the water strategies of many of the largest companies in the world.

Water licensing

Most of Exxaro’s operations have their water use authorised under the old water act. However, all operations have
since had their integrated water-use licences (or IWULs) submitted to the appropriate authorities for consideration
and approval. Tshikondeni mine and mine pit expansion was the first Exxaro operation to receive an integrated
water-use licence - the culmination of detailed consultation with authorities. Licences have since been approved for:
  • Grootegeluk mine
  • Grootegeluk mine: Medupi expansion project (GMEP)
  • Char plant
  • Matla mine
  • Matla mine river diversion project
  • North Block Complex (Eerstelingsfontein)
  • New Clydesdale Colliery
  • KZN Sands (Fairbreeze)
  • Zincor (NRDF)
  • Inyanda

While Exxaro already reports on water issues against relevant GRI indicators as well as UN Global Compact principles, and the ICMM sustainable development framework, standardised processes will enhance data from the new financial year.

During the year, some environmental groups raised issues with the JSE and in the media about mining companies’ compliance with environmental standards, and particularly about whether JSE standards for membership of the Socially Responsible Investment index needed to be raised. Exxaro was among the companies singled out for attention, citing the alleged lack of water licences at specific operations and allegedly unauthorised mining operations at another. Exxaro was able to prove to the JSE that the required water licences had been issued, and that no unauthorised mining activities were being undertaken at Arnot’s Mooifontein section. In addition, Exxaro was able to prove that an innovative solution was being implemented at Matla to preserve and minimise mining impacts of the wetland (right).

Exxaro has a proven record of environmental conservation and management, as illustrated in case studies in this report.

Case study - Limiting wetland damage at Matla

Exxaro’s planned expansion of underground operations at Matla coal mine in Mpumalanga will enable the group to increase capacity and supply the Eskom power station while preserving the ecologically sensitive and valuable wetland systems on the province’s Highveld.

This unique wetland project combines an adaptation of the mining model with a 14km diversion of the Rietspruit River, a tributary of the Olifants River which in turn is a major water source for several mines in the area, including Exxaro’s Inyanda mine and New Clydesdale mine.

As a result of the controlled impacts of mining and controlled water use, the flow and functioning of the Rietspruit ecosystem has been maintained and its biodiversity protected. We believe this is a good example of mining innovation and nature working together: at Matla, we are going below the wetland using undermining, a technique typically used when a mine extends under a building, roadway or town.

To date, Exxaro has spent R31 million on constructing the river diversion and another R1 million on monitoring biodiversity in the wetland project. Monitoring will continue until 2017 when mining ends at Matla. However we will continue to monitor the performance of the wetland for a further three years after mining has ceased to record post-mining conditions. Should results be positive after this period, monitoring will be stopped.

 

Water efficiency projects

Business unit      Description  
Grootegeluk      In pit storage of stormwater run-off for plant utilisation (after pH neutralisation plant to avoid corrosion)
Dewatering of the Basalt aquifer and re-use as process water 
The Basalt aquifer is fed mainly by seepage from the unlined pollution control dams, stockpile areas and slimes facility
Water recovery from the slimes disposal facility is re-used as process water
The beneficiation plant at Grootegeluk mine expansion for Medupi (GMEP) has been designed to be zero-effluent in terms of water 
Matla      Excess water from underground is being considered for distribution to Eskom as process water
Arnot      No formal water reclamation used in plant plan in place   
Leeuwpan      Water recovery from the slimes disposal facility
Storm water run-off recycled and re-used via the process water dams 
Inyanda      Water reclamation from the slimes facility is used as process water   
Stormwater run-off from the plant area is captured and returned to the plant for re-use
Pit water from groundwater flow and run-off is pumped back to the dirty-water facilities for re-use
Tshikondeni      Slimes disposal with percolated water recovery for re-use in the plant area
Stormwater run-off at the plant area is recycled back as process water
Pit stormwater run-off is used for dust suppression
North Block Complex      Excess water from pit and stormwater run-off is collected in pollution control dams for dust suppression   
Zincor      Rainwater collection from roofs is used to augment process water
Borehole abstraction used to draw back pollution plume and augment process water 
Glen Douglas      Stormwater run-off into opencast areas used as process water in the plant area   
KZN Sands      Reclamation of rainwater to augment water from Umgeni Water
Seepage and run-off at CPC is collected and used as process water 
Namakwa Sands      Seawater is used as process water
Process water is recycled from the disposal facilities and re-used in the plant  

Projects are now being tracked through the water steering committee