Management approach

Leadership and vision

The leadership of the community and environment discipline is the responsibility of the executive vice president: business sustainability, supported by the corporate office environment and community team. For further discussion on the environmental management approach, framework, standards and policy, please refer to the Environment, community and human rights section under Our performance.

Performance indicators:

The following (core) and (additional) indicators are reported in compliance with GRI. In addition, where the response is applicable to the ICMM principles or the principle of the UN Global Compact, this is illustrated by their respective logos. Indicators that have been verified by PWC are indicated with a . Note that the information presented below is for AngloGold Ashanti’s managed operations. In the case of joint ventures, the data has not been apportioned.

Note: In the tables contained in this section NR stands for ‘Not Reported’. This means that the indicator is not applicable to the operation because the input is to not used or the output is not generated.

Aspect: Materials

EN1 (Core)

Materials used by weight or volume.

The primary raw materials used by the group include the ore processed during the extraction and recovery of gold from its host rock (direct raw materials). Primary process materials used include non-renewable materials such as liquid fossil fuels, lubricants and solid fossil fuels and renewable materials such as cyanide, explosives, acids and alkalis. These bulk materials are used or consumed during gold processing and are relevant to environmental management in that these must be controlled by the operations to avoid environmental impacts. Cyanide is managed under the guidelines provided by the International Cyanide Management Code.

Direct raw materials	2009	2008
Ore processed (kilotonnes)
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	1,278	1,481
South Africa
West Wits	3,544	3,790
Vaal River	14,068	12,855
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	3,440	3,535
Obuasi	4,564	5,551
Guinea
Siguiri	8,844	8,612
Mali
Sadiola	4,044	3,815
Yatela	2,748	2,720
Tanzania
Geita	4,480	4,270
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	3,871	3,752
North America
USA
CC&V	18,650	22,149
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	994	955
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	1,530	1,411
Serra Grande	529	396
Group	72,582	75,291

Process materials	Liquid fossil fuels (ML)		Lubricants (kL)
	2009	2008	2009 *	2008
Non-renewable
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	7.96	5.98	130	78
South Africa
West Wits	1.79	1.86	903	425
Vaal River	4.88	6.04	607	437
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	20.30	18.46	163	NR
Obuasi	2.20	6.99	NR	NR
Guinea
Siguiri	49.46	48.81	866	68
Mali
Sadiola	45.95	46.23	957	613
Yatela	13.45	15.23	462	NR
Tanzania
Geita	87.46	88.13	2,040	2,091
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	29.99	51.76	NR	NR
North America
USA
CC&V	35.92	32.92	1,156	845
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	13.27	13.43	326	324
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	4.80	4.64	425	429
Serra Grande	3.51	2.91	92	80
Group	320.93	343.38	8,127	5,322

* 2009 saw an increase in reported lubricant data.

Process materials	Cyanide (t)		Explosives (t)		Total acid consumption (t)		Total alkali consumption (t)
	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008
Renewable
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	716	875	3,387	800	65	69	372	656
South Africa
West Wits	993	1,016	3,067	11,686	558	569	2,448	2,855
Vaal River	3,696	3,428	4,518	4,299	78,927	77,582	54,480	58,933
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	1,310	1,088	6,862	NR	423	293	3,778	2,577
Obuasi	4,335	4,360	1,760	NR	770	777	30,568	1,355
Guinea
Siguiri	2,903	2,692	648	202	195	225	10,782	NR
Mali
Sadiola	2,775	4,113	8,812	4,173	1,002	690	10,814	11,057
Yatela	1,068	998	701	2,066	–	–	32,295	57
Tanzania
Geita	2,868	2,226	12,492	11,366	420	248	1,136	6,930
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	1,676	1,633	3,094	NR	461	447	11,084	11,579
North America
USA
CC&V	3,339	3,055	14,182	12,320	390	258	138,703	116,262
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	480	516	4,712	4,566	1,156	1,419	2,139	2,445
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	228	441	1,875	1,832	287	199	274	7,772
Serra Grande	619	362	1,270	814	NR	21	1,072	914
Group	27,006	26,804	66,900	54,924	84,654	82,797	306,952	223,392

EN2 (Core)

Percentage of materials used that are recycled input materials.

Due to the nature of the mining industry, mining companies predominantly use chemicals and raw materials to produce their commodities. As such, there is limited opportunity to substitute for recycled input material on a significant scale. Therefore, recycled input material use by the group is not significant, and consequently measuring it is not deemed meaningful.

Aspect: Energy

EN3 (Core)

Direct energy consumption by primary source.

During 2009, a total of 0.59 million GJ of hydro-electrical power was generated at AngloGold Ashanti operations; 0.44 million GJ at the Brasil Mineração operations in Brazil and 0.15 million GJ at the Mponeng operation in South Africa. This compares to a total of 0.62 million GJ of hydro-electrical generation in 2008, 0.49 million GJ at the Brasil Mineração operations and 0.14 million GJ at Mponeng.

Direct non-renewable energy sources

	Diesel		Natural gas *		Heavy Fuel Oil
	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008
million GJ
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	0.31	0.22	–	–	–	–
South Africa
West Wits	0.06	0.07	–	–	–	–
Vaal River	0.18	0.22	–	–	–	–
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	0.80	0.67	–	–	–	–
Obuasi	0.09	0.40	–	–	–	–
Guinea
Siguiri	0.92	0.84	–	–	1.13	0.98
Mali
Sadiola	1.81	1.73	–	–	–	–
Yatela	0.53	0.56	–	–	–	–
Tanzania
Geita	2.03	2.07	–	–	1.55	1.24
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	1.16	1.89	0.97	0.01	–	–
North America
USA
CC&V	1.36	1.19	0.08	0.08	–	–
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	0.52	0.49	0.94	0.69	–	–
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	0.19	0.19	–	–	–	–
Serra Grande	0.14	0.11	–	–	–	–
Group	10.10	10.65	1.99	0.78	2.68	2.22

* At Sunrise Dam, liquified natural gas is used.

In addition to the above energy sources, coal is used at the Vaal River operation. During 2008 and 2009, 0.44 million GJ of coal energy was used each year. Other energy sources used during 2009 in non-significant quantities include: 0.02 million GJ of petrol and used lubrication oil (burnt for heating) at CC&V, and 0.02 million GJ of petrol at the West Wits and Vaal River operations. A negligible amount (0.003 million GJ) of A1 jet fuel was used at Vaal River during 2009. Quantities used during 2008 were similar at each operation. Direct non-renewable energy use for 2009 totalled 15.25 million GJ, including coal and other non-significant energy sources (2008:14.13 million GJ).

EN4 (Core)

Indirect energy consumption by primary source

Indirect energy purchased	2009	2008
Grid energy consumed (million GJ)
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	0.15	0.14
South Africa
West Wits	5.24	5.52
Vaal River	6.36	6.29
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	0.25	0.34
Obuasi	1.53	1.67
Guinea
Siguiri	–	–
Mali
Sadiola	–	–
Yatela	–	–
Tanzania
Geita	–	–
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	–	–
North America
USA
CC&V	0.25	0.26
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	–	–
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	0.18	0.16
Serra Grande	0.27	0.22
Group	14.24	14.60

Aspect: Water

EN8 (Core)

Total water withdrawal by source (ML)

Water for consumptive use in operations

	Ground water used		Surface water used		Utility and/or other external water suppliers		Total
	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	–	–	–	–	996	1,194	996	1,194
South Africa
West Wits	2,784	2,841	–	–	2,535	2,422	5,319	5,263
Vaal River	2,926	4,423	3,427	2,666	7,978	8,606	14,330	15,695
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	99	100	–	–	38	NR	137	100
Obuasi	4,934	3,551	5,039	8,477	–	–	9,973	12,029
Guinea
Siguiri	33	NR	3,887	3,921	–	–	3,920	3,921
Mali
Sadiola	17	487	6,738	5,502	–	–	6,755	5,989
Yatela	1,024	934	–	–	–	–	1,024	934
Tanzania
Geita	–	–	3,539	3,048	–	–	3,539	3,048
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	3,703	1,982	–	–	–	–	3,703	1,982
North America
USA
CC&V	–	–	–	–	1,854	1,719	1,854	1,719
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	818	899	–	–	–	–	818	899
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	71	82	2,631	2,971	–	–	2,703	3,052
Serra Grande	–	–	51	399	–	–	51	399

Aspect: Biodiversity

EN11 (Core)

Location and size of land owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas.

Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	Neung North Forest Reserve is located immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of the Iduapriem operational area. The total area under management at Iduapriem is 11,000ha.
Obuasi	5.7ha are demarcated as forest reserve within the 670km² Obuasi mine concession.
Tanzania
Geita	The operation is located within 196km² of the Geita forest reserve.
Australasia
Australia region greenfield exploration	Some of the Western Australia tenements held by Australian region greenfied exploration are located within "C" class reserves. The total area affected is 228,085ha.
South America
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	Within 5km of a declared national reserve of Atlantic forest.
Serra Grande	Within 5km of a declared national reserve of Cerrado ecosystem.

This indicator is not applicable to the following operations as they are not located in or adjacent to protected areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas:

EN12 (Core)

Description of significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity in protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas.

Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	Low direct impact, insignificant indirect impact.
Obuasi	No significant impact.
Australasia
Australian region greenfield exploration	Direct impact on habitat alteration, low indirect impact.
South America
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	Low direct impact, largely visual indirect impact.
Serra Grande	Low direct impact, largely visual indirect impact.

This indicator is only applicable to the countries above

Aspect: Emissions, effluents and waste

EN16 (Core)

Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by weight (kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent).

Direct GHG emissions

	Diesel		Heavy fuel oil		Natural gas		Petrol		Total
	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008	2009	2008
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	23	16	–	–	–	–	0.2	0.1	23.2	16.1
South Africa
West Wits	5	5	–	–	–	–	0.5	NR	5.5	5
Vaal River	13	16	–	–	–	–	0.9	NR	39.9	16
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	59	50	–	–	–	–	–	–	59	50
Obuasi	6	30	–	–	–	–	–	–	6	30
Guinea
Siguiri	69	62	87	72	–	–	–	–	156	134
Mali
Sadiola	135	128	–	–	–	–	–	–	135	128
Yatela	39	41	–	–	–	–	–	–	39	41
Tanzania
Geita	151	153	120	91	–	–	–	–	271	244
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	81	146	–	–	62	1	–	–	205	147
North America
USA
CC&V	103	88	–	–	5	4	0.9	0.8	108.9	92.8
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	39	37	–	–	60	39	–	–	99	76
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	14	14	–	–	–	–	0.1	0.1	14.1	14.1
Serra Grande	10	8	–	–	–	–	0.1	0.1	10.1	8.1
Group	747	794	208	163	127	44	2.7	1.2	1,085	1,002

In addition to the above, during 2009, 0.2 kilotonnes (kt) of CO₂e were emitted through the consumption of A1 jet fuel at the Vaal River operation. A1 jet fuel use was not reported for 2008. At the Vaal River operation 41kt of CO₂e were emitted during the consumption of coal. In 2008 this use amounted to 42kt of CO₂e. One kilotonne of CO₂e was generated annually over 2008 and 2009 at CC&V as a result of combusting used lubrication oil for heating the heavy mining equipment (truck) workshop. In addition, 0.15kt of CO₂e were emitted from liquified petroleum gas (LPG)/propane use in 2009 at CC&V. At Brasil Mineração 0.13kt of CO₂e were generated owing to the consumption of LPG.

Indirect GHG emissions

Grid electricity consumed (kilotonnes CO2e)	2009	2008
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	1	1
South Africa
Vaal River	1,821	1,748
West Wits	1,499	1,532
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	14	19
Obuasi	87	94
Guinea
Siguiri	–	–
Mali
Sadiola	–	–
Yatela	–	–
Tanzania
Geita	–	–
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	–	–
North America
USA
CC&V	63	69
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	–	–
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	1	1
Serra Grande	2	2

Refrigerants were lost at the South African operations. 1,769kg of CFC11e lost at West Wits in 2009 equivalent to 8kt of CO₂e. In addition, 22t of R134a was lost at West Wits and 10.7t of R134a at Vaal River, equivalent to 32kt CO₂e and 15kt CO₂e respectively.

During 2008, 12.6t of R134a refrigerant was lost at Vaal River and 44t at West Wits equivalent to 18kt CO₂e and 63kt CO₂e respectively. In 2008, the 0.2t of CFC11e lost at Obuasi amounted to 2kt of CO₂e and in the same year 13.6kg of R134a refrigerant were lost at Obuasi equivalent to 0.02kt of CO₂e.

EN17 (Core)

Other relevant indirect GHG by weight.

During 2008 and 2009, AngloGold Ashanti carried out a detailed and independent GHG emissions assessment. Scope 3 emissions were included in this assessment and were found to be 0.4% of the group’s total emissions. Consequently, these other indirect GHG emissions are deemed to be immaterial and will not be reported upon in future.

EN19 (Core)

Emissions of ozone-depleting substances by weight.

Ozone depleting substances totalling 1,768kg (CFC-11e) were accidentally emitted from the West Wits operations during 2009. 0.2 tonnes CFC11e were accidentally emitted at Obuasi mine in Ghana during 2008.

EN20 (Core)

NOx, SOx, and other significant air emissions by type and weight.

Significant air emission types

	Oxides of nitrogen (t)		Oxides of sulphur (t)
	2009	2008	2009	2008
Southern Africa
South Africa
Vaal River	–	–	2,756	2,241
West Wits	–	–	–	–
Continental Africa
Tanzania
Geita*	15.1	15.2	8.2	7.5
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	1,193	949	4	2.36
North America
USA
CC&V	23	22	20	18
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	10,453	11,990	–	–

* Reported as µg/m³ (average)

EN21 (Core)

Total water discharge by quality and destination.

Total planned discharges

Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	No planned discharges.
South Africa
West Wits	190,500m³/annum of sewage treated water (which meets effluent discharge guidelines) to the Elandsfontein Spruit, from the Klipdrift Dam. The pH was 7.6. 19,9173m³/annum of chemically treated sewage from the Blyvoor Canal into the Wonderfontein Spruit, with a pH of 7.8 and conductivity of 0.4mS/cm.
Vaal River	14,655m³/annum of untreated water into the Vaal River, from the Eye Dam, with a pH of 7.5 and conductivity of 0.38mS/cm. 19,636m³/annum of untreated water into the Vaal River, from the Boat Club Sump, with a pH of 7.57 and conductivity of 0.30mS/cm.
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	No planned discharges.
Obuasi	4,409,396m³/annum of chemically treated water from the Sansu Holding pond to Nyam Stream, with a pH of 7.9 and conductivity of 2.99mS/cm. 13,300m³/annum of chemically treated water from the Pompora Treatment Plant sump to Kwabrafo Stream, with a pH of 7.9 and conductivity of 1.85mS/cm.
Guinea
Siguiri	1,261m³/annum of treated water (digestion and chlorination) from Biofilter sewage treatment facility to immediate environment, with a pH of 8.1 and conductivity of 0.83mS/cm. 1,051m³/annum of treated water (digestion and chlorination) from Biofilter sewage treatment facility to immediate environment, with a pH of 8.3 and conductivity of 0.91mS/cm.
Mali
Sadiola	No planned discharges.
Yatela	190,500m³/annum of untreated water (meets effluent discharge standards) from Alamoutala Pit into surrounding streams, tributaries of the Niemelah River, with a pH of 7.6 and conductivity of 0.24mS/cm.
Tanzania
Geita	No planned discharges.
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	746,000m³/annum of untreated water to Lake Carey, from the mine water circuit, with a pH of 7.2 and conductivity of 361mS/cm.
North America
USA
CC&V	No planned discharges
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	No planned discharges
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	4,311,168m³/annum of treated water (removal of arsenic, addition of ferric sulphate) to Velhas River, from the Cocoruto dam with a pH of 7.4 and conductivity of 0.2mS/cm. 181,508m³/annum of treated water (addition of flocculent to reduce total solids) to Papa Farinha Creek, from the pumping of Lamego Mine, with a pH of 7.7 and conductivity of 0.05mS/cm. 641,927m³/annum of treated water (addition of flocculant to reduce total solids) to Concei??o River from the pumping of Córrego do S?tio mine, with a pH of 7.7 and conductivity of 0.03mS/cm.
Serra Grande	75,224m³/annum of treated water (after arsenic precipitation and cyanide removal) to Rio Vermelho from the Serra Grande mine, with a pH of 6.9 and conductivity of 2mS/cm.

EN22 (Core)

Total weight of waste by type and disposal method.

Hazardous waste (2009)

	Battery waste		Chemical and solvent waste		Fluorescent lighting waste		Hydrocarbon waste		Other hazardous waste
Tonnes (unless noted otherwise)
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	0.1		–	–	NR	–	185		–	–
							400
South Africa
West Wits	64		–	–	10		14		11(m³)
Vaal River	NR	–	–	–	20		34.3		8.4
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	NR	–	–	–	0.004		NR	–	–	–
Obuasi	NR	–	–	–	0.67		88		–	–
Guinea
Siguiri	NR	–	–	–	NR	–	332		–	–
Mali
Sadiola	NR	–	–	–	0.15		NR	–	27
Yatela	NR	–	–	–	0.04
Tanzania
Geita	2		–	–	–	–	595		–	–
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	244 (units)		–	–	0.025		296		–	–
North America
USA
CC&V	0.014		0,028		0.027		–	–	17
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	1.8		–	–	0.5		833		53
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	0.055		–		0.42		144		261
Serra Grande	5.3		101		0.47		215		–	–

Note: Recycled Offsite landfill Onsite landfill

Non-hazardous waste (2009)

	Ferrous metal waste		General waste		Non-ferrous metal waste
Tonnes (unless noted otherwise)
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	NR	–	300		–	–
South Africa
West Wits	3,092		2,568		161
Vaal River	9,278		66,376		112
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	NR	–	NR	–	–	–
Obuasi	NR	–	14,351		–	–
Guinea
Siguiri	NR	–	NR	–	–	–
Mali
Sadiola	NR	–	2,238		–	–
Yatela	70		461		–	–
Tanzania
Geita	NR	–	9,964		–	–
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	221		NR		–	–
			20.3
North America
USA
CC&V	663		–	–	0,068
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	69		1,100		–	–
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	696		(33)		113
			(168)
Serra Grande	375		240		2.3

Note: Recycled Offsite landfill Onsite landfill

EN23 (Core)

Total number and volume of significant spills

See table of Reportable Environmental Incidents (PDF - 30KB)

Aspect: Products and services

EN26 (Core)

Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products and services, and extent of impact mitigation.

Our primary product is gold, which is chemically inert. Gold is used as a store of financial value by banks and investors, in the manufacture of jewellery and in several industrial applications. It is infinitely recyclable. It has little to no direct impacts. However, there are impacts related to the production of gold. To mitigate and manage these impacts, we maintain a group environmental policy which is given effect through site-based environmental management systems that are certified to the ISO14001 standard. More detail on our approach to environmental management issues can be found under Environment, community and human rights section of Our performance.

EN27 (Core)

Percentage of products sold and their packaging materials that are reclaimed by category.

Our products are not sold with packaging and, being precious metals, are infinitely recycled by the market.

Aspect: Compliance

EN28 (Core)

Monetary value of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations.

None that exceed the threshold stipulated in Social: Society of this report.

MMEN23 (Core)

Total amount of land owned, leased, or managed for production activities or extractive use.

2009	Total land managed (ha)	Total amount of land disturbed and not yet rehabilitated – opening balance (ha)	Total amount of land newly disturbed within the reporting year (ha)	Total amount of land newly rehabilitated within the reporting year to agreed upon end use (ha)	Total land disturbed and not yet re- habilitated – closing balance (ha)	Total amount of land rehabilitated to date
Country
Southern Africa
Namibia
Navachab	7,937*	361	151	0	512	95
South Africa
West Wits	4,160	1,523	0	10	1,513	92
Vaal River	13,592	4,977	0	284	4,693	551
Continental Africa
Ghana
Iduapriem	11,000	1,287	14	0	1,273	230
Obuasi	67,000	1,304	0.13	0	1,272	33
Guinea
Siguiri	159,233	988	143	6	1,131	109
Mali
Sadiola	18,700	1,387	25	3	1,409	36
Yatela	22,252	739	17	92	664	149
Tanzania
Geita	19,600	2,751	31	26	2,756	380
Australasia
Sunrise Dam	33,990	1,903	36	0	1,939	552
North America
USA
CC&V	2,367	1,700	0	7	1,693	122
South America
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	51,200	7,270	0	53	7,217	309
Brazil
Brasil Mineração	21,028	500	20	12	508	257
Serra Grande	2,595	108	65	7	166	12

* Extended Mining Lease Areas on neighbouring farm, Karabib, included.

Mining and Metals Sector Supplement

MM3

Biodiversity management plans

AngloGold Ashanti is developing a biodiversity standard which will be finalised during 2010. It is based on ICMM's Good Practice Guidance on Biodiversity, and has been subjected to internal and external peer review. The company does not currently require the development of stand-alone biodiversity management plans but rather requires that biodiversity is considered as part of the ISO14001 process, with the site’s significant environmental aspects being identified and management plans developed to address these. Through this process, the need for Biodiversity Actions Plans is determined locally and includes both regulatory and Interested and Affected Parties’ requirements in their content.

MM4

Production from secondary material

As a gold mining company, AngloGold Ashanti produces gold, either as a bullion (typically 80-95% gold) or refined (99.5+%) bars, as well as silver and uranium as by-products. These are, by definition, original metal. Owing to the nature of mining, companies use manufactured products, such as steel, fossil fuels, chemicals and explosives, and natural resources, such as water, timber and mined rock, to produce their commodities. There is therefore limited opportunity to substitute recycled or secondary materials on a meaningful scale, except where suppliers have already incorporated recycled materials into the product, for example recycled steel into piping, liners and steel balls.

MM5

Product eco-efficiency attributes

AngloGold Ashanti mines, smelts and refines gold. It also produces silver and uranium as by-products. Metals are infinitely recyclable. The company’s Environment and Community Policy, revised in 2009, is the overarching statement that directs gold production processes in enhancing eco-efficiency by maximising natural resource use efficiency, such as land, water and energy, optimising recycling opportunities, preventing pollution and seeking less toxic consumables through ’green procurement’ initiatives. This policy is given effect through site environmental management systems, which are externally certified to the ISO14001 standard.

MM6

Management approach for waste and residues storage facilities

Various waste materials are produced during the mining cycle. Internal Tailings and Heap Leach Management Frameworks set the standard as well as provide guidance to which tailings and heap leach facilities must be constructed and operated. Internal geotechnical engineers are responsible for ensuring the structural stability of tailings, heap leach facilities and waste rock dumps. During the design phase, appropriate handling and placement considerations have to be factored into the project design to ensure satisfactory protection of the environment and the safety of neighbouring communities. Risk assessments, environmental impact assessments, stakeholder engagement processes and other studies are used to identify appropriate mitigation measures and controls. During the operational phase, monitoring and audit processes are used to establish trends, identify emerging issues and to ensure conformance to the defined standard operating procedures and operating license requirements for these various facilities, for example stability assessments, water quality monitoring, hydrogeological and geochemical modelling etc., are carried out to monitor the effectiveness of the design and controls. Closure considerations are generally defined at the design phase, continually revised throughout and finalised during the operational phase. These controls are then implemented during the closure phase (with appropriate post-closure monitoring).

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI Sustainability Review 2009

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