Water

Access to clean water is a fundamental human right and a vital resource for South Deep’s mining and ore processing activities. With South Africa being a water-stressed environment, responsible water stewardship ensures security of supply to our operation. Managing our impact on and access to water is also essential to maintaining our social licence to operate, as water is a critical resource for many of our host communities.

We have adopted an integrated approach to water management, including alignment to the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) Water Position Statement, baseline water assessments at the operations, and the adoption of a catchment approach to water management based on risk and opportunity analyses. With careful management, we are able to reduce our environmental impact through responsible use, storage and release of water, while also reducing our costs.

Our Group Water Stewardship Strategy sets targets for the following:

• Reducing freshwater usage
• Increasing water recycling/fit-for purpose reuse
• Embedding water planning into core operational management
• Aligning water risk with resourcing over the life of our operation
• Effectively managing water at our operation
• Applying transparent corporate water governance
• Engagement with host communities, to achieve responsible and sustainable water use