Water balance

Water is used in all aspects of a mineral operation including exploration, mining, processing, smelting and refining and sometimes for supply to local towns. 

We are committed to minimising the amount of water we remove from the environment, and recycling or reusing is an effective way of doing this.

How we manage our water

Many operations are located in arid areas where water supply is limited and the local water supply may often be poor quality. Sometimes significant infrastructure is required for supplying water to the site. Operations can also be located in areas where there is sufficient water or sometimes too much.

For instance, in 2006, several cyclonic events stopped production for a short time as a result of too much water at our Pilbara Iron operations in Western Australia.

So different approaches to managing water scarcity and water excess are required.

Water being returned to the environment after it has come into contact with mining or processing activities has a potential environmental and community impact because its quality may have been altered.

Any water that we discharge from our perations is done so according to water quality compliance limits. Many operations do not discharge water at all as they are able to recycle or lose water via evaporation. Those that do discharge their water often treat it so as to comply with strict discharge limits.

Our results

In 2006, we used 1,008 million cubic litres. This water was used primarily for processing, cooling and dust suppression. Over a quarter of this water was recycled in our processes, the most common way being  to capture water that would normally be lost through the processing circuit via thickeners and tailings dams.

Water inputs, use and outputs in 2006