Location: Africa, Republic of South Africa, Mpumalanga/eMalahleni
Date project established: October 2007
eMalahleni is a municipality of 510,000 people in a water-stressed region of north-eastern South Africa. It
is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country, and has faced considerable difficulties in meeting
increasing demand for drinking water.
The city lies within the Olifants River Catchment – one of the regions in which Anglo American has also
been working with internationally recognised research institutions to develop long-term climate models. The
results, projected up to 2050, suggest that there is potential for a reduction in mean annual rainfall in
this area. Water shortages - or flooding as a result of extreme rainfall events - could have serious
implications for one of the most economically dynamic areas of South Africa.
Anglo American’s Thermal Coal workings in the area around eMalahleni, however, contain approximately
140,000 megalitres (Ml) of water - a figure that is rising by over 25 Ml a day.
Too little water on the surface is a problem for communities. Too much water underground is no less of a
problem for a mining company.
So Anglo American’s Thermal Coal invested a decade of research and development into mine water
treatment technology. This was aligned with the central government’s mine closure and rehabilitation
strategy, and the employment, development and environmental requirements of local authorities. The research
involved a partnership with South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, and all of the major mining houses in
the Highveld coalfields.
Anglo American subsequently established the eMalahleni Water Reclamation Scheme to treat the water from its
local operations, and that from a nearby, disused mine owned by another mining company. The scheme was
commissioned in 2007, and Anglo American put in place the infrastructure needed to deliver the treated water
directly into the municipality’s system.
The scheme treats mine water from current active mining operations. But it will remain in operation well
beyond the conclusion of active mining, to sustainably manage environmental needs and make drinking water
available to the local community into the future.