Anglo American Annual Report 2012

WATERSecurity of water supply is a corebusiness risk and a critical elementof our social and legal licence tooperate. Our operations need largevolumes of the right quality of waterfor both production and processing.Yet more than 70% of our mines arein water-stressed areas where accessto water is already a significantsocioeconomic concern. At the sametime, our operations present a potentialenvironmental risk in terms of waterquality. We are committed, therefore,to providing water security for ouroperations and the communitieswhere we operate.Our strategy and managementapproachWe have an ambitious 10-year strategythat is split into three distinct steps.The first step, ‘Be disciplined’, is aboutgetting the basics right. The secondstep, ‘Be proactive’, encouragesoperations to go beyond compliance,while the third, ‘Build resilience’, takesus to being part of broader, catchmentlevelwater solutions. Our intention isto achieve ‘water neutrality’ at our newmines by 2030.Two years into the strategy, we havelargely consolidated the first stageof our journey and are now targetingthe more advanced ‘proactive’ and‘resilient’ stages.Operational excellenceOperational excellence in relation towater management is mainly aboutbeing smarter in the way we use andmanage water. Our Group technicalstandard includes detailedrequirements on water-reductiontarget setting, water monitoring andreporting, and site-level water actionplans (WAPs), which have driven apositive shift in our approach tomanaging water at operations.In 2011, we implemented our waterefficiency target tool (WETT), whichforecasts the projected business-asusualwater demand of individualoperations and establishes a registerof water-saving projects. The rollingout of WETT across the Group during2012 has led to tangible water savings,more effective water management,better tracking and reporting, andincreased awareness of waterconservation.Total water required,by use in 2012%Water re-used/recycled in process 73%Water used for primary activities 24%Water used for non-primary activities 3%In 2012, we also completed awater-quality audit protocol andundertook a series of audits acrossthe Group, which will inform ourunderstanding of how to bettermanage water quality risk.TechnologyTo achieve our long term goal ofbecoming water neutral, we estimatewe will have to halve the currentconsumption of ‘new’ water atoperations and ensure that more than80% of that water is recycled. We willneed to identify and invest in newtechnology solutions to achieve this.To better understand and define ourwater technology pathway, we haveresearched what ‘water neutrality’would mean for a mine, as well as howto achieve a ‘carbon neutral’ mine,recognising the potential trade-offsbetween water and energy savings.Another focus has been workingwith the UK Met Office, ImperialCollege London and others, onmodelling the potential regionalimpacts of changes in precipitationresulting from climate change.Engagement and partnershipsWherever we operate, we engage withhost governments, local authorities,communities, NGOs, businessesand other stakeholders on a range ofwater-related issues, and participatein global policy debates on water.Total water consumed 2008–2012Million m 31801701601501401302008 2009 2010 2011Anglo American actualBusiness as usual (BAU) baseline2012Our performanceDespite acquisitions, expansions andproduction increases, and taking intoaccount disposals, the Group hasmaintained a reasonably stable levelof water demand since 2007.Anglo American’s consumption ofwater used for primary activities hasincreased by 6%, from 115 million m 3in 2011 to 122 million m 3 in 2012.The primary driver was Los Broncescopper mine in Chile, which increasedour Copper business’ waterconsumption by 7 million m 3 . Thisfigure would have been significantlyhigher if it were not for the largeincrease in water recycled from theoperation’s tailings dam (this morethan doubled to 82 million m 3 of waterin 2012). The increase was furthermitigated by 26 water savingsprojects around the Group thatsaved 7 million m 3 of water.More than 70% of our operationalwater requirements were met byrecycling/re-using water over the pasttwo years. Within the Group there havebeen several high performers in termsof recycling, with some reaching levelsas high as 90–97%. Our operationsare also seeking to reduce theirdependency on high-quality water byswitching to the use of lower waterqualitygrades where this is deemed fitfor the intended use. Currently, potablewater accounts for just 18% of our total.Operating and financial reviewAnglo American plc Annual Report 2012 29