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Healthy environment

We are stewards of the land and ecosystems at and around our operations. Our vision is to maintain a healthy environment, where we minimise impact and deliver positive and lasting environmental outcomes. We are innovating to reduce the environmental footprint of our business as we work on achieving the stretch environmental goals of our sustainable mining plan. Equally, our contribution to a low-carbon world is underpinned by the PGMs we produce, as these metals are critical in enabling associated technologies that support sustainable green solutions.

Appreciating the natural environment

We recognise the value and scarcity of our country’s natural resources, especially energy and water. In practice this means that we minimise and optimise their use, while at the same time seeking fair and secure access to them in a sustainable way. We are mindful of the impact of our operations on our natural environment and on our neighbours, and what we leave behind when our operations close. We reduce our environmental footprint through research, planning and responsible environmental management at every stage of our operational life cycle, from exploration to beyond closure.

For us, compliance with environmental legislation is fundamental to our approach of implementing best practice. We do this to ensure a sustainable mining environment that focuses on continuous improvement and prevention of pollution. Certified environmental management systems that are compliant with the ISO14001:2004 standard are entrenched at all our managed operations. In line with this standard, we have systems in place to report, review and remediate environmental incidents according to well-established procedures.

Energy usage

Mining and processing are energy-intensive, and energy alone makes up around 10% of our operating costs. Climate change and energy management are closely related – more than 90% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are indirect. This is because we buy this energy from our national utility, Eskom, which produces energy largely from coal-fired power stations. Optimising the use of our second most important source of energy, diesel, is also a priority.

We aim to reduce energy usage where we can, as well as optimising the energy we use per ounce of product produced. Most of the energy we purchase is used in our metallurgical and refining operations, and there is very little opportunity to reduce usage without a significant change in production levels. Especially in our underground mining operations, more energy is needed to produce each ounce of product as mines get deeper and older. So, we are likely to face naturally increasing energy intensity, particularly if production decreases.

Climate change

Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. Our underlying principle is to reduce carbon going into the atmosphere and our clear pathways are guided by our purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives. These include optimising opportunities for our products to support a greener, cleaner, more sustainable world; reducing our energy consumption and intensity; and increasing our use of renewable energy

The challenge that climate science sets, as clearly stated in the August 2021 inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report, is to decarbonise the global economy as quickly as possible. We are committed to playing our part by decarbonising our operations and providing metals that are fundamental to the transition to a low-carbon economy, by enabling decarbonised energy and transport.

Our approach to climate change adheres to Anglo American’s climate-change policy and management approach. This includes building internal agility and resilience to climate change, understanding and responding to risks and opportunities related to the carbon life cycle of our products, and developing and implementing collaborative solutions with our stakeholders. Our strategy considers a range of risks and opportunities that climate change poses to our business.

Our response to climate change is firmly entrenched in the group sustainability goals that inform our GHG emissions and energyintensity reduction targets. In line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goals, Anglo American has committed to achieving carbon neutrality (scope 1 and 2) across its operations by 2040, supported by clear intermediate targets. This year, we have advanced our project planning and achieved encouraging progress in actioning the decarbonisation roadmap we developed in 2020, informed by detailed work at each of our sites. Our management systems, structures, governance and engagement processes ensure that climate change is considered in all our business decisions. Responsibility for managing climate change is delegated throughout the organisation, with the safety and sustainable development (S&SD) committee of the board assuming ultimate responsibility

Read more about climate change

Water

For Anglo American Platinum, water security remains a principal risk as all our sites operate in stressed catchment areas. We rely heavily on water for mining and processing activities. Responsible management of this resource is therefore critical, given concerns about water security and quality, as well as strict regulation and scrutiny by authorities. Pressure on shared freshwater resources is exacerbated by growing climate impacts, economic growth and competition between users.

Our ambition is to develop mines that are water-neutral during the operational phase, with our operations requiring no freshwater withdrawals beyond ramp-up. We will always need water, but we can get closer to full-recovery recycling. The group sustainable mining plan sets meaningful targets for long-term, efficient water use by 2030: – 50% reduction (globally) in freshwater abstraction (against restated 2015 baseline) – Recycle and reuse at least 75% globally of available water – Zero level 3 or higher water discharge incidents – Use innovative technologies that will allow mining with little or no water

Air

Minimising our negative impacts on air quality

Dust or gaseous emissions with the potential to impact air quality can occur at any stage of the mining life cycle. In addition to greenhouse gases (GHGs), we monitor and manage the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulates (largely from our smelters), dust fall-out (mainly from our tailings dams and opencast mines), nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from mine vehicles and other diesel engines, as well as point sources (stacks) at some of our operations.

Monitoring dust and gaseous emissions

We have real-time ambient monitoring networks in Rustenburg, Polokwane and areas around our Mortimer smelter. These stations measure SO2 and PM in line with regulatory requirements and best practices. They also provide an indication of ambient air-quality levels and associated trends. Our highest-priority particulate emissions are those classified as PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter of under 10 and 2.5 microns respectively).

We report the results of ambient monitoring to the relevant authority quarterly. NOx emissions are monitored continuously at our converter plant (ACP), our greatest source of these emissions, and annually through isokinetic sampling at all stacks at relevant operations in line with the respective Air Emission Licence (AEL) requirements. Our air-quality incident investigation protocol ensures that, if an incident occurs, we can minimise the impact on our communities. Our policy is to create a record and initiate an investigation to develop appropriate mitigation measures. We also investigate all air quality-related complaints we receive.

SO2 abatement

Our most material air-quality issue is SO2 emissions from our three smelters in South Africa. We are implementing an SO2 abatement roadmap, aimed at reducing emissions to the lowest possible levels and, as a minimum, to ensure we are compliant with legislated limits. SO2 emissions are regulated by the National Environment Management: Air Quality Act 2004, which stipulated stringent minimum emission standards (MES) by 2015, and a further reduction by 2020.

In November 2019, postponement of timeframes for complying with 2020 emission limits was granted for all three smelters to allow for the necessary abatement equipment to be installed to enable compliance. The requested postponement for Waterval is to enable us to evaluate the impact of future high-sulfur concentrate. An SO2 postponement was granted to 31 December 2022 for Polokwane smelter, 31 March 2025 for Mortimer smelter, 31 December 2023 for Waterval smelter. In addition, Waterval has a postponement to 31 March 2025 for NOx.

Responsible land management and closure

We own and manage large tracts of land in South Africa, of which only around 20% is actually used for mining and related activities. We have biodiversity action plans in place at all of our operations, as well as preliminary closure plans. Detailed closure plans are developed within five to 10 years of operational closure.

As is required by legislation, each operation estimates its closure liability on an annual basis, and financial provisions are annually made, reviewed and audited. For us, rehabilitation and land stewardship can provide opportunities for community development and engagement that will support our social license to operate and ensure long term sustainability at our operations.