Water availability remains one of the biggest risks facing the mining industry around the world.
According to Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, approximately 80% of its operations across the world are in water-stressed areas. “This is why we are working towards building the “water-less mine”,” he said.
“Through innovative and existing technologies we are investing in a number of ways to conserve, and where possible eliminate, the use of freshly drawn water from our mining processes. In 2015, of our total operational water requirements, 64% was met by our recycling of water.”
He said it was essential for mining companies to become resilient - especially in the African context where the lack of infrastructure such as water and power were continuing to impact on operations.
“For many companies, resilience is a difficult goal to pursue. It is tough in the face of uncertain market conditions and a fast-changing world - to keep striving for improvement and progress, not knowing what the future holds for you,” said Cutifani.
Developing what he calls “intelligent mines” will become increasingly important going forward. “In the age of big data, robotics and machine learning, we are building a more connected mine through smart use of data and integrated systems thinking,” he said. “To reduce maintenance spending and reduce safety risks, we are using advanced analytics to interrogate existing data and to estimate the probability of component failure in some of our most important mining equipment.”
He said three years ago Anglo American took up the challenge to think outside the box and address some of the challenges the industry was facing. Since then - thanks to the introduction of innovative solutions - the company had increased productivity by at least 40%.
