Mining giant Anglo American’s eMala- hleni water reclamation plant has responded to a call to aid communities in the flood ravaged country of Mozambique.Recent floods in the southern and central areas of the country displaced thousands of families and led to an insufficient supply of drinking water, and caused a cholera outbreak.
Almost 1 700 ℓ of bottled drinking water, sufficient for up to 160 people a week, was sourced from the plant, which is a joint venture between Anglo American, its subsidiary operation Thermal Coal and inter- national mining giant BHP Billiton.
The water is sourced from the plant, in the Witbank coalfields of Mpumalanga, by the White River Beverage Company, which bottles and retails the plant’s treated water.
The bottled water was distributed by disaster relief organisation, Gift of the Givers Foundation, to an emergency camp in Chokwe, a southern area of Mozambique that was badly affected by the floods.
The eMalahleni water reclamation plant uses the latest water purification technology to desalinate 30-million litres of mine water to potable quality every day. The mine water is sourced from Thermal Coal’s Landau, Greenside and Kleinkopje collieries and BHP Billiton’s defunct South Witbank mine.
The water is pumped directly into the eMalahleni munici- pality’s reservoirs, meeting 12% of its daily water requirements.
The plant is currently being expanded to be able to treat 50-million litres of water a day by early 2014 and has the potential to double its contribution to the municipality’s water requirements once this is completed.
Anglo American executive director Khanyisile Kweyama says the group’s philosophy prompted its decision to assist flood victims in Mozambique.
“Our core value as a business is equally determined by our commitment to making a difference in the lives of people located near our operations. “This informed our decision to provide much-needed aid to the people of Mozambique, especially considering that our eMalahleni water reclama- tion plant has proven effective in supplementing potable water for local eMalahleni communities.
“We are delighted to have been able to assist these communities during this natural disaster, in which basic resources such as water are vital for survival,” she says.