Anglo American Annual Report 2012

Mine life per commodity (1)Years, minimum to maximum6 to 242 to 358 to 265 to 703 to 304 to 2717 to 220 Range (years) 70Iron oreMetallurgical coalThermal coalCopperNickelPlatinumDiamonds(1)Mine life is the extraction period in years for scheduledOre Reserves comprising Proved and ProbableReserves only. For diamonds, life of mine (years)is reported and is based on scheduled ProbableReserves including Indicated and some InferredResources considered for life of mine planning.Note: the 30 years for platinum is due to 30 yearsbeing the maximum number of years for which amining right is granted in South Africa.The development of proprietaryexploration tools remains a priority,with some already in use and improvedmodels undergoing testing prior to thepiloting of prototypes. These provide asignificant competitive advantage forAnglo American in the search for newTier One orebodies.The shorter term projects will seevarious automated vehicles beingdemonstrated at certain opencastmines during 2013 and multiple novelunderground mining machines beingtested on platinum mines. Successin these projects would make asignificant impact on the safety andcompetitiveness of Group operations.A concerted systems approach hasnow been adopted in order to facilitatemining’s transition to a more modern,automated and technologically matureera. Effort is being concentrated oncreating the necessary building blocksto support both open pit andunderground methods in steadilymoving up the steps towardsautomation maturity. In particular,attention is currently being placed,inter alia, on automation-specifictechnologies such as undergroundmapping, positioning and obstacledetection. Emphasis, too, is beingplaced on integrated operationscentres as the hub of the automationapproach needed to commandintegrated data in a risk-managedenvironment in order to deliverimproved performance, as well as tocoordinate and drive sustainableperformance improvement.Our Thermal Coal business hasidentified 15 technologies in orderto form a prioritised pipeline fortechnology development. During 2012,Thermal Coal achieved a number oftechnology milestones and is the firstcoal mining company in South Africato commission Flexible ConveyorTrain technology (FCT) undergroundat Greenside and Goedehoop. Theimplementation of the technologyresulted in a marked reduction inunderground coal transport vehicles,thereby significantly improving safetywhile also increasing productivity.Thermal Coal has started the journeyof automation of some of the opencastfleets, including articulated dumptrucks, overburden drills andbulldozers. Furthermore, automationprovides opportunity forimprovements in utilisation,productivity and quality, as well assafety and health.At our Metallurgical Coal business,we are making progress in severalareas on the technological front. The‘Smart Cap’ fatigue-managementsystem has moved to thecommercialisation phase. Significantwork has been undertaken to reducecarbon emissions from theunderground mines through improvedmonitoring, capture and utilisation ofpotential fugitive emissions. Remotemonitoring of equipment health andperformance has been embeddedthrough the Brisbane-basedBenchmark Performance Centre,where the health and performanceof both open cut and undergroundequipment is being monitored andactions taken to improve performance.In coal processing, laboratory scaletrials have been completed onenhanced processing for coalswith high inherent ash and clay; ifsuccessful, our reserves base ofhigh quality metallurgical coal couldpotentially increase.Operating and financial reviewAnglo American plc Annual Report 2012 39