Environment

Management, systems and accountability

While day-to-day responsibility for environmental issues lies with mine and project management, the group’s corporate environment team provides strategic guidance and monitors performance against company standards. Site-based and regional environmental specialists contribute to operational environmental functioning and combine to form the Environmental Steering Committee at a group level. The senior environmental and community affairs functions at a corporate level were amalgamated during the year, reflecting the reality on the ground, where the natural and social environments are interdependent.

The Board Committee on Safety, Health and Sustainable Development has oversight of environmental matters. The committee meets on a quarterly basis and members of the corporate environment team are invited to participate in these meetings.

A group-wide biennial environmental workshop was held in Brazil in late 2008 bringing together some 50 participants in the environmental discipline from across the group to discuss a number of issues facing the company, including:

• discussion regarding local and international environmental initiatives and their potential impact;
• identification of environmental issues and technical challenges facing the company and its operations;
• reviewing the next series of draft standards; and
• AngloGold Ashanti’s new operating framework and how the environmental discipline fits within it.

As a minimum, all operations are expected to comply with legislation, regulations and permits in their countries of operation, and with the obligations that the company has entered into (ICMM sustainable development framework and position statements, ISO14001, International Cyanide Management Code, etc). All operations are required to implement the group’s Environmental Policy, and country- and operation-specific policies are encouraged as a means of putting it into effect within the local context. Group environmental standards have been and are being developed in support of the policy.

Total group environmental expenditure cannot be reported separately (as is requested by GRI) as aspects of expenditure, such as concurrent rehabilitation, training and development, auditing and certification, and other expenses) are considered to be an integral part of mining and processing operations, and are accounted for as part of operating costs. Additional information on expenditure is reported in the Country and Operational reports. The group’s decommissioning and rehabilitation liabilities are reported below.

Compliance

All requisite environmental permits for current operations are in place or have been applied for, and all operations were in compliance during the year with the following exceptions:

• the discharge of process water outside of permitted quality levels by Obuasi Mine. See case study: Following up on environmental commitments made in Ghana;
• incidents of non-compliance were reported at the West Wits and Vaal River operations relating to non-permitted water discharge events;
• at the Vaal River operations, incidents were reported relating to sulphur dioxide stack emissions exceeding the required thresholds; and
• a fine of $56,500 was imposed by the Government of Guinea for exceeding permitted dust levels at Siguiri mine.

These incidents are discussed in greater detail in the environmental incidents report (PDF - 73KB), a comprehensive schedule of incidents and the remedial actions undertaken.

No other significant fines were received by the company in relation to non-conformance with environmental laws and regulations.

Major permits applied for and/or granted during the year include:

• The CC&V mine in the United States completed its permit applications for the Cresson Mine Life Extension project. A number of complaints were received about the visual impact of the extension by residents of the City of Cripple Creek and this issue was successfully resolved through mine planning amendments. See case study on: Public hearings pave the way for CC&V.
• Applications for environmental licences were submitted to the Goiás state environmental agency in Brazil for the Serra Grande Expansion project, including the Pequizão underground mine and the elevation of the tailings storage facility (TSF).
• Environmental studies have been submitted to the regional environmental authority in Colombia prior to further drilling taking place at the La Colosa project.

An area of continued concern is the fact that the water licences applied for by all South African operations in terms of current water legislation have not yet been issued, and these operations are utilising their previous permit requirements. This appears to be due to a lack of administrative capacity in the regional offices of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, and is common across the industry.

Site-specific information on compliance and permitting, as well as the significant environmental incidents, may be found in the country and operational reports.

ISO14001

All AngloGold Ashanti operations have environmental management systems (EMS) in place that are certified to the ISO14001 standard. All operations are expected to maintain certification to the standard and to meet their individual targets as part of the group’s commitment to continual improvement in environmental performance. All sites that have been audited as part of the ISO surveillance programme or for recertification have successfully retained their certification. Additionally, the Lamego project in Brazil and the Australian Region Exploration Group have also achieved certification to the ISO14001 standard.

Corporate Environmental Review Programmme

The Corporate Environmental Review Programmme (CERP) first undertaken in 2007, verified that significant environmental aspects had been identified in each operation’s management system, and assessed whether appropriate programmes had been established to monitor and manage these aspects. See the case study in the 2007 Report to Society: Corporate environmental review programme initiated. During 2008, a programme of follow-up visits was undertaken to sites with significant environmental risks to ensure that acceptable controls were either being implemented or maintained. A second CERP has been planned to start in mid 2009, and will include all AngloGold Ashanti-managed operations. The results of CERP 2007 were used as the basis for the first company-wide environmental award, which was awarded to Brasil Mineração in Brazil. (See below).

Major environmental incidents

All operations are required to report all major environmental incidents to the corporate office. A summary of these reports is submitted quarterly to the company’s Executive Committee and the Board Safety, Health and Sustainable Development Committee.

The group defines a major incident as one which could affect the company’s reputation or which results in a cost to the company exceeding $100,000, including fines, compensation, clean-up, loss of production, and anticipated litigation costs, etc.

Subject to meeting the above criteria, examples of issues of direct interest include, but are not limited to:

• matters which, by law, must be reported to government agencies;
• matters which, by law, are subject to fines and/or penalties;
• environmental impacts which are by their nature either extensive or likely to have long-term effects;
• cyanide-related incidents;
• TFS failures;
• spillages or leakages of tailings materials, hydrocarbons, acids and other chemicals with impacts beyond the company’s designated containment areas;
• atmospheric emissions and effluent releases beyond permitted levels;
• dust emissions above permitted levels which may impact on the company’s reputation; and
• wildlife mortalities and land clearing activities which may impact on the company’s reputation.

A total of 104 environmental incidents were reported in 2008, far more than in 2007. The reasons for this are discussed below and a schedule of significant incidents during 2008 (PDF - 73KB) has been published. In order to align with the revised group risk management system, the major environmental incident classification system will be revisited during 2009.

Mine closure

Mine closure and its associated costs are incorporated into the economic feasibility studies of new projects. AngloGold Ashanti supports ICMM’s integrated approach to mine closure that considers social, economic and environmental aspects in the closure planning process. Closure plans are in place at all operations. More detail on specific operations’ closure plans may be found in the Country and Operational Reports.

Closure plans are typically reviewed and updated annually and take into account operational conditions, community requirements planning and legislative requirements, international protocols, technological developments and advances in good practice.

A draft integrated closure planning standard has been prepared based on ICMM’s Toolkit for Integrated Mine Closure Planning which was published in 2008. By year end, advanced plans were in place to thoroughly review every operation’s closure plans and liability estimates from a technical and accounting perspective. The objective of the review is to compare current plans with the standard, recommend how they should be revised, if appropriate, and adjust the company’s closure liabilities, if necessary. This process is expected to be completed during 2009 and, in addition to the plans and liabilities information, it is intended that it will generate a group-specific tool for assessing closure liabilities.

While actual closure costs may only be fully determined at the time of closure, as at 31 December 2008 the total estimated liability amounted to $404.9 million (2007: $445.8 million). This decrease is largely owing to exchange rate fluctuations. Provisions for decomissioning and rehabilitation are made in all jurisdictions in the format prescribed by law, and range of methods are employed including trust funds, bonds and bank guarantees.

Rehabilitation and decommissioning liabilities

	2008		2008	2007
	Rehabilitation	Decommissioning	Total*
Region	$ million	$ million	$ million	$ million
Corporate	0	0	0	2.1
Corporate*	0	0	0	2.1
Argentinia	12.7	10.4	23.0	16.0
Cerro Vanguardia	127	10.4	23.0	16.0
Australia	15.3	4.4	19.7	47.6
Sunrise Dam	15.3	4.4	19.7	25.1
Brazil	11.6	22.9	34.5	36.4
Brasil Mineração	5.9	16.8	22.7	29.9
Serra Grande	1.8	3.6	5.4	6.5
Sao Bento Mineração	3.9	2.5	6.4	-
Ghana	44.1	31.7	75.9	73.7
Iduapriem	13.0	8.8	21.9	19.8
Obuasi	31.1	22.9	54.0	51.3
Cluff Resources**	–	-	-	2.6
Guinea	20.3	14.8	35.1	35.7
Siguiri	20.3	14.8	35.1	35.7
Mali	10.8	17.5	28.3	24.1
Morila	2.3	1.6	3.9	3.9
Sadiola	6.1	8.2	14.3	11.7
Yatela	2.4	7.7	10.1	8.5
Namibia	1.6	1.7	3.2	3.3
Navachab	1.6	1.7	3.2	3.3
South Africa	46.5	48.9	95.4	127.3
Great Noligwa	2.1	8.3	10.4	17.3
Kopanang	2.7	8.9	11.7	17.9
Tau Lekoa	2.7	3.4	6.1	6.6
Moab	7.1	6.6	13.7	2.2
TauTona	7.9	7.0	14.9	10.5
Savuka	1.9	3.6	6.0	5.2
Mponeng	1.9	4.7	6.6	7.8
Legacy projects - Vaal River	4.3	0.5	4.8	15.6
Legacy projects - West Wits	1.0	5.2	6.2	2.2
Ergo***	15.0	0.1	15.1	24.1
Nufcor	0	0.5	0.5	-
Tanzania	22.1	24.0	45.8	47.5
Geita	22.1	24.0	45.8	47.5
USA	41.3	2.8	44.1	34.6
CC&V	41.3	2.8	44.1	34.6
Total	226.3	178.7	404.9	445.8

^* Assets held through the corporate office were disposed of during 2008.

^** The liabilities related to Cluff Resources concern Obuasi and have been incorporated into that figure.

^*** Although Ergo has been sold, the company retains certain liabilities until the sale conditions have been fully met.

The liability for decommissioning represents the cost that will arise from rectifying impacts caused before the start of production. The liability for rehabilitation represents the cost of restoring the site after the start of production.

Engaging with communities and employees

Communicating with employees and affected communities is an integral part of the ISO14001-based EMSs. Depending on the nature of the operation and its proximity to and relationship with neighbours, extensive engagement may need to be undertaken. Community engagement is dealt with extensively in the Community section of this report, and should be read in conjunction with this section. In line with the requirements of ISO14001, environmental training is provided to all employees and contractors.

Resource management and usage

A central tenet underlying the group’s targets and performance is its commitment to optimising resource usage and reducing waste. The nature of the orebody, mining methods and metallurgical processes employed differ from mine to mine, as do the circumstances in which mines operate. Hence, environmental priorities are identified and dealt with on a site-by-site basis.

Detailed disclosure on performance in respect of certain indicators may be found in the Environmental Performance Indicator Appendix (PDF - 297KB). This table provides responses to the core environmental indicators listed by the GRI and the Mining and Metals Supplement, by country and operation where this is available.

Resource use efficiencies are reported on more fully below and include the primary resources of environmental importance used by the group namely cyanide, water, and energy. Note that resources used at Morila have been excluded as the mine is no longer managed by AngloGold Ashanti. Data for 2007 and 2006 have accordingly been restated for comparative purposes.

Cyanide management and usage

Cyanide is a vital reagent in the gold recovery process, without which the gold deposits mined today would not be viable. Since different gold recovery processes and ore types use varying concentrations of cyanide to maintain acceptable gold recovery efficiencies, relative cyanide usage is not necessarily a measure of performance. Rather, the efficiency of usage at a particular site and whether there have been any environmental incidents involving cyanide are key measures.

Total cyanide usage by AngloGold Ashanti increased by 6% in 2008 to 26,803,755 kilograms. In terms of efficiency, cyanide usage per ounce of gold produced increased by 3.3% to 5.01 kilograms (2007: 4.85 kilograms per ounce). There was one reportable incident involving process water containing cyanide at Cerro Vanguardia. The spill was, however, effectively contained and managed on the mine site and no harm was caused to the environment. See the schedule of significant environmental incidents (PDF - 73KB).

The global mining industry, including AngloGold Ashanti, has done much over the past 10 years to minimise risk associated with the use of cyanide. AngloGold Ashanti managed sites are signatories to the International Cyanide Management Code for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide in the Production of Gold (the Cyanide Code), to which the group was a founding signatory. This code is a voluntary industry initiative developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) specifically to promote responsible management of cyanide used in gold mining, to enhance the protection of human health, and reduce the potential for environmental impacts.

A key target of the Cyanide Code is its full implementation by all signatories, and an independent audit of this by all participants’ operating subsidiaries. Below are  AngloGold Ashanti’s operations which have been externally certified to be in full compliance with the code. See the case study on Navachab works toward Cynide Code certification. (For further information on the Cyanide Code, see www.cyanidecode.org).

Progress made with implementation of Cyanide Code

	Status of implementation	Planned Certification audit date	Certification Date
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	Gap analysis concluded	2010	–
Australia
Sunrise Dam	Full compliance	N/A	January 2008
Brazil
Mineração
Serra Grande	Full compliance	N/A	February 2008
Queiroz Gold Plant	Full compliance	N/A	February 2008
Córrego do Sitio	Full compliance	N/A	February 2008
Ghana
Obuasi	Gap audit concluded	2010	–
Iduapriem	Gap audit concluded	2010	–
Guinea
Siguiri	Substantial Compliance	Completed in October 2008	Third quarter 20091
Mali
Sadiola	Substantial Compliance	Completed in October 2008	Third quarter 20092
Yatela	Full Compliance	Completed in October 2008	Second quarter 20093
Namibia
Navachab	Substantial Compliance	Completed in November 2008	Second quarter 20094
South Africa
Vaal River
East Gold Plant	Full compliance	N/A	July 2007
Noligwa Gold Plant	Full compliance	N/A	July 2007
Kopanang Plant	Full compliance	N/A	July 2007
West Gold Plant	Full compliance	N/A	June 2007
West Wits
Mponeng Plant	Full compliance	N/A	April 2008
Savuka Plant	Full compliance	N/A	May 2008
Tanzania
Geita	Gap audit concluded	2010	–
USA
CC&V	Full compliance	N/A	September 2008

¹ Pending conclusion of obligatory WAD cyanide sampling campaign and successful transport audit.

² Pending completion of actions identified during certification audit and successful transport audit.

³ Pending successful completion of cyanide transport audit.

⁴ Pending successful completion of cyanide transport audit.

An area of concern that is being addressed by the group is the weak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide levels at Geita in Tanzania and at Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina. While the tailings facility pool water is generally in compliance with the Cyanide Code (below 50 ppm), readings at the tailings discharge points at both sites often remain above this level. Though only one incident of this nature was recorded at Geita in 2008, the risk remains. A two-pronged project, investigating cyanide detoxification options, as well as preventing exposure of birds to high WAD cyanide levels at discharge points, has started at Geita.

Cyanide usage by operation

	Cyanide usage (kg)		Efficiency (kg/oz)
	2008	2007	2008	2007
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	516,000	548,000	3.10	2.48
Australia
Sunrise Dam	1,632,674	1,559,159	3.77	2.60
Brazil
Brasil Minerãçao	441,0001	169,200	1.38	0.53
Serra Grande	362,0002	314,000	2.08	1.73
Ghana
Obuasi	4,360,4883	5,212,700	12.21	14.48
Iduapriem	1,088,000	1,206,000	5.44	6.14
Guinea
Siguiri	2,692,000	2,377,000	6.87	7.22
Mali
Sadiola	4,113,152	4,282,200	9.09	11.62
Yatela	998,0004	748,000	6.05	2.49
Namibia
Navachab	875,000	1,022,000	12.87	12.78
South Africa
West Wits	1,016,0005	1,434,188	1.04	1.34
Vaal River	3,428,000	3,917,812	3.06	3.11
Tanzania
Geita	2,226,000	2,258,000	8.43	6.91
USA
CC&V	3,055,441	3,504,000	11.84	12.43
Group	26,803,755	28,552,259	5.01	4.85

¹Increased in 2008 due to the full ramp-up of the Cuiabá expansion, which started in 2007.

²Increase attributed to additional production requirements.

³Lower tonnes treated and improved cyanide consumption efficiencies.

⁴Increased consumption due to a high ratio of sulphide-to-oxide ore being treated.

⁵Owing to decreased production requirements.

Water

The availability of water varies from region to region, with some operations located in high rainfall areas, and others in extremely arid areas. Topography, mining and processing methods and the mineralogical composition of the orebody are also important factors in determining site-specific water management approaches. In addition to minimising absolute water abstraction, attention is paid to recycling water at operations.

Surface and groundwater monitoring programmes are in place at the operations, which look for signs of ineffective water pollution prevention controls, allowing management to put in place an appropriate response.

In 2008, total fresh water usage by AngloGold Ashanti decreased by 3.9% to 53,617,295 m³. (2007: 55,796,923 m³). From an efficiency point of view, consumption per ounce of production rose by 5.8%, at 10.02 m³ per ounce of gold produced.

Extensive engagement between affected parties on the discharges from various mining, industrial and agricultural sources the Wonderfontein Spruit (stream) continued during the year. AngloGold Ashanti actively participates in two forums committed to dialogue surrounding the Wonderfontein Spruit issue: the Wonderfontein Spruit Catchment Area Project Technical Working Group (WCAPTWG), and the local Mining Interest Group (MIG). In 2008 there were moves to connect and interlink these two forums, to encourage better communication regarding the Spruit, and to prevent duplication of effort.

Key to AngloGold Ashanti’s involvement in this effort is the project to increase the storage capacity of the North Boundary Dam, which captures process water overflows on the northern boundary of the West Wits operations. The stormwater management capacity at the West Wits operations has improved in a phased approach since 2002, yet during periods of high rainfall and/or significant operational interruptions it is possible for the North Boundary Dam to overflow towards the Wonderfontein Spruit. See the case study on: Mitigating the risk of discharge into the Wonderfontein Spruit.

Fresh water usage by operation

	Water usage (m³)		Efficiency (m³/oz of water)
	2008	2007	2008	2007
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	899,346	1,036,741	5.40	4.70
Australia
Sunrise Dam	1,981,829	1,742,339	4.58	2.90
Brazil
Brasil Minerãçao	3,052,4811	4,163,381	9.54	13.13
Serra Grande	400,000	399,300	2.30	2.19
Ghana
Obuasi	9,419,952	10,621,257	26.39	29.50
Iduapriem	100,0005	100,000	0.50	0.51
Guinea
Siguiri	3,920,5542	2,959,121	10.01	8.98
Mali
Sadiola	5,988,988	5,714,334	13.23	15.51
Yatela	934,2313	1,120,000	5.66	3.73
Namibia
Navachab	1,194,214	1,116,821	17.56	13.96
South Africa
West Wits	5,263,456	5,569,486	5.37	5.21
Vaal River	15,695,170	17,217,443	14.03	13.69
Tanzania
Geita	3,048,430	2,670,066	11.55	8.17
USA
CC&V	1,718,6444	1,366,634	6.66	4.85
Group	53,617,295	55,796,923	10.02	9.47

¹Due to increased efficiency of water recycling.

²Consumption increased due to higher production profile.

³Poor rainfall over the previous two years resulted in reduced groundwater availability, and water aquifer abstraction during 2008 has reduced as a consequence.

⁴CC&V increased the volume of water in the pad to increase solution flows and thus gold recovery.

⁵An estimate of ground water abstraction.

Energy management and usage

Mining activities use significant amounts of energy, for transporting employees, equipment, ore and waste, for ventilation and refrigeration in underground mines, to power drilling and the use of other equipment, to run metallurgical plants and administration offices, and for domestic uses in on-site accommodation facilities. In 2008, AngloGold Ashanti’s total energy consumption from all sources was 29,264,362 GJ, a decrease of 2.2% from 2007 (2007: 29,925,687 GJ). Energy usage per ounce of gold produced increased by 7.7% to 5.47 GJ per ounce of gold produced (2007: 5.1 GJ).

Electricity is typically purchased from national grids or generated using heavy fuel oil or diesel at remote locations. The major exception to this is Brasil Mineração in Brazil, where the company’s own hydro-electric power facilities provide 75.6% of that operation’s electricity supply. See case study in the Report to Society 2006: The use of hydro-electric power in Brazil.

The group is dependent on the national or regional electricity provider for the fuel mix used in the electricity grid. In South Africa, the largest regional electricity user in the group, energy is generated predominantly from coal. Energy efficiency is a company imperative from a cost perspective. Typically, 18.5% of the group’s total cost is related to energy.

Increasingly, energy is a scarce resource and can limit current and new project production. In Argentina, South Africa and Ghana, for example, energy-supply issues have had a negative impact on operations during the year. Capacity constraints at South African power utility Eskom resulted in nationwide power outages in late 2007/early 2008.

In addition, the role of energy generation in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) provides further impetus for reduction. AngloGold Ashanti’s operations continue to investigate options for low-carbon energy. See the discussion on reducing carbon emissions below and the case study: AngloGold Ashanti’s response to the power crisis.

Energy usage

	Energy usage (GJ)		Efficiency (GJ/oz)
	2008	2007	2008	2007
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	1,189,203	1,170,596	7.14	5.31
Australia
Sunrise Dam	1,900,910	1,978,167	4.39	3.30
Brazil
Brasil Minerãçao	847,621	781,310	2.65	2.46
Serra Grande	328,555	311,456	1.89	1.71
Ghana
Obuasi	2,017,12210	2,484,700	5.80	6.90
Iduapriem	1,016,368	944,479	5.08	4.81
Guinea
Siguiri	1,820,098	1,714,517	4.65	5.20
Mali
Sadiola	1,729,516	1,665,765	3.82	4.52
Yatela	555,233	577,412	3.37	1.92
Namibia
Navachab	360,510	320,275	5.30	4.00
South Africa
West Wits	5,727,095	5,789,711	5.84	5.42
Vaal River	6,953,481	7,365,629	6.00	5.86
Tanzania
Geita	3,307,836	3,351,884	12.53	10.25
USA
CC&V	1,548,626	1,469,786	5.65	5.21
Group	29,356,172	29,925,687	5.49	5.08

¹⁰Overall energy usage has decreased owing to the more stable Volta River Authority power supply which negated the need to run on-site diesel power generators.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

In 2008, AngloGold Ashanti embarked on a process to develop a business case for responding to climate change. See case study on Developing a business case for climate change. This follows the setting of targets by the CEO in December 2007 to reduce group energy consumption by 15% per ounce of gold produced in the short- to medium-term, and a medium- to longer-term target of reducing GHGs by 30% per ounce of gold produced. See case study in the Report to Society 2007: AngloGold Ashanti and climate change.

AngloGold Ashanti believes that climate change presents both physical and financial risks, as well as opportunities for the company, and these have been and are being considered.

A three-part study, begun in greater detail in September 2008, includes:

• a group-wide assessment to determine in greater detail the GHG footprint of all AngloGold Ashanti operations using 2007 as the benchmark year;
• a comprehensive assessment to determine risks to which the company is exposed as a result of climate change. Various risk categories (financial and investment, physical, and legal/regulatory) are being considered; and
• the identification of potential opportunities to expand on the group’s energy savings and energy efficiency projects and to reduce the company’s dependence on fossil fuels. This component will identify opportunities where GHG emissions can be reduced to minimise the group’s GHG footprint and where carbon credits can be realised and potentially traded in order to offset the costs of these opportunities and to contribute to the company’s bottom line.

Given the group’s focus on delivering value, the approach taken was that the process should identify multiple and highly probable Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. For AngloGold Ashanti, carbon trading presents a particular opportunity; around 84% of the company's gold production comes from developing countries, which are eligible for CDM projects.

GHG emissions

	Tonnes of CO2e		Efficiency (CO 2e/oz)
	2008	2007	2008	2007
Argentina
Cerro Vanguardia	75,512	74,182	0.45	0.34
Australia
Sunrise Dam	147,423	154,173	0.34	0.26
Brazil
Brasil Minerãçao	15,1921	10,060	0.05	0.03
Serra Grande	7,9212	6,785	0.05	0.04
Ghana
Iduapriem	69,2413	51,729	0.35	0.26
Obuasi	126,5854	110,193	0.35	0.31
Guinea
Siguiri	133,714	129,653	0.34	0.39
Mali
Sadiola	128,001	125,089	0.28	0.34
Yatela	41,093	42,734	0.25	0.14
Namibia
Navachab	17,3625	13,267	0.26	0.17
South Africa
West Wits	1,595,197	1,538,933	1.63	1.44
Vaal River	1,785,413	1,848,984	1.60	1.47
Tanzania
Geita	243,559	252,834	0.92	0.77
USA
CC&V	163,060	152,140	0.63	0.54
Group	4,549,273	4,510,756	0.85	0.77

Calculated from direct and indirect fossil fuel usage plus emissions of ozone depleting substances and utilising WRI-WBCSD GHG Protocol Initiative default data, or where available, supplier emission factors.

¹Attributed to the increased diesel usage in the energy mix.

²Attributed to the increased diesel energy requirements associated with the new Palmeiras mine and bigger fleet in use at the open-pit area.

³Despite overall energy usage reducing at Obuasi, the GHG emissions have increased because the electricity grid emission factor per unit in Ghana escalated from 83.5g CO₂e per kWh to 203.7g CO₂ per KWh.

⁴Higher ratio of fossil fuel usage in 2008 compared with 2007.

⁵Diesel consumption increased as a result of additional shifts worked per week.

In 2008, AngloGold Ashanti’s operations emitted 4,546,273 tonnes of CO₂e (direct and indirect emissions), a decrease of 0.79% on the 4,510,756 tonnes of CO₂e emitted in 2007. From an efficiency perspective, CO₂e emissions increased by 10% to 0.85 CO₂e/oz.

Preventing pollution

Means to minimise and prevent pollution by operations of the surrounding environment are considered and typically built into mining projects at the beginning of the project. However, this has not always been the case at operations that were established many decades ago, when legislation was less stringent and when technologies and practices used today were largely unknown. This has resulted in the capacity of the pollution prevention systems at several operations being unable to meet current requirements. Projects to address this are in place at affected operations in South Africa and Ghana.

Ghana

One such legacy issue being addressed is the impact of pollution from the Sansu and Pompora tailings storage facilities at Obuasi in Ghana. Here, illegal discharge of cyanide and arsenic into the environment led the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue an Enforcement Notice for the closure of these facilities for a period of 12 days in 2007 and to an extended Enforcement Notice requiring remediation by June 2008. (This deadline was subsequently extended to June 2009). See the case study in the Report to Society 2007: Programme to deal with environmental legacy issues at Obuasi, and the case study on the progress made in 2008, Following up on environmental commitments Ghana.

Mali

A $350 million lawsuit by Malian NGO Action pour l’environnement et la santé (APES) for alleged damage to the environment and communities by gold mines in Mali has been dismissed on several occasions. Although the courts have indicated that APES has no case, APES has appealed the court decision. The appeal is yet to be heard by the Malian courts.

Tanzania

At Geita in Tanzania, a project was undertaken to evaluate and respond to allegations that the mine was a source of elevated heavy metal concentrations in soil, stunted crop growth and ailing health of the nearby Nyakabale village. The allegations were published by the Norwegian news services Norwatch. For further information, see the case study: Allegations of environmental damage at Geita. Further, work is being done to manage and minimise acid rock drainage (ARD) at Geita. See the case study Addressing acid rock drainage at Geita.

Guinea

At Siguiri in Guinea, work has continued to address the issue of dust. See case study on: Progress with dust management at Siguiri, in the Report to Society 2007.

Dust is a nuisance for the mine and community members particularly during the dry, windy season, when the harmattan (north-easterly trade winds), blows in from the Sahara Desert. Dust is generated from both mining areas (ore stockpiles, open pits, waste rock dumps and tailings storage facilities) as well as mine and community roads. Trials on the use of molasses as a dust suppressing agent have continued.

Brazil

Remediation of the old tailings deposit areas at Matadouro and Madeira continued during the year, in terms of an agreement reached between the company and the state environmental agency. By year-end four of the seven areas had been recovered and integrated back into the communities at a total cost to the company of $4 million. See case study in the Report to Society 2004: Rehabilitation of old tailings deposit at Nova Lima.

Argentina

During 2008, an ambitious project at Cerro Vanguardia Mine to prevent the possibility of groundwater contamination was successfully completed. Part of the Cerro Vanguardia TSF is located on a long, thin intrusion of hard rock, running a few metres below the surface, which creates a natural conduit for water seeping down into the earth. See case study: Isolating a geological feature to prevent groundwater contamination at Cerro Vanguardia.

Biodiversity stewardship

AngloGold Ashanti, as part of its commitment to environmental stewardship, considers long-term sustainability of the land on which its operations are located to be an integral part of its responsibility. A number of its operations and projects are located in environmentally sensitive areas.

A key objective for the year was to use the ICMM’s Good Practice Guidance to improve the management of biodiversity-related issues in association with appropriate external organisations. A new draft standard on biodiversity, currently under development, is based on the ICMM document.

In South Africa, implementation started on the recommendations of the Biodiversity Assessment project completed in 2008. The South African Mining and Biodiversity Forum, a forum comprising industry, NGOs and government, which is currently chaired by an AngloGold Ashanti representative, is developing guidelines based on the ICMM guidance that are focused on South African conditions.

In respect of operations and projects located in areas of the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado ecosystems in Brazil, AngloGold Ashanti is participating in a committee formed by the local mining companies to develop an environmental and economic zoning study that will guide the future economic use and preservation of the areas.

A threatened species inspection was completed prior to the commencement of exploration activities by the Australian region exploration group. Data collected during these inspections and baseline surveys are added to the region’s geographical information system (GIS) for consideration when planning future exploration activities.

In South Africa, research into the use of phyto-remediation technologies to prevent and repair environmental damage on TSFs has continued. See case study: Growing vegetation to reduce environmental damage.

An important part of the planning and implementation of any rehabilitation work is the restoration of areas disturbed by mining to appropriate levels of biodiversity and land use. A particular challenge that is being dealt with by Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina is how to encourage revegetation under particularly difficult conditions. The mine is located in the arid Patagonia Desert region. Compounding this is the low availability of topsoil and the fact that the mining method favours the creation of rocks and boulders, offering little suitable resources for the rehabilitation of waste rock dams.

Further, at Córrego do Sítio mine in Brazil, successful rehabilitation is complicated by the non-cohesive soil material and high levels of rainfall in the area, and consequently high levels of soil erosion. See the case study: Mine site rehabilitation performance assessment training at Córrego do Sítio.