Our environment

Water resources are protected, managed and regulated by the National Water Act. Compliance requirements are stipulated in the Integrated Water Use Licences (IWUL) and Integrated Waste and Water Management Plans. These licences are regularly updated and amended, as required.Mining operations use large amounts of water, mainly in extraction activities. Thus, water supply is considered to be an operational risk, and water conservation and security of supply are critical to business continuity.

All our operations are located in water stressed regions, which could be affected by the effects of climate change. Our objective is to reduce reliance on potable and bulk water supplies and to maximise re-use and recycling.

Our upgraded integrated and dynamic water balance models are used to monitor water use and recycling at each site and to identify the best options for improving water conservation and demand management, and to assess various climate change risk scenarios. They also allow us to test a range of strategies and scenarios to identify opportunities for more efficient and sustainable water use, and incorporate predicted climate change impacts.

We recognise the potential adverse effects of mining operations on the integrity of our host environments and their endemic biodiversity. We are committed to protecting and contributing to South Africa’s abundant and unique biodiversity. Managing the potential impact of our mining activities is integral to the day-to-day environmental management activities across the operations.

The legal environmental regime in the South African mining sector includes rigorous authorisation and permitting processes. Preservation and promotion of biodiversity, along with resource conservation and land management are managed at the operational level and are governed by management plans, frameworks and other guidelines. Where possible, we minimise our operations to mitigate our impacts on the natural environment, and commit to offset these where we operate in sensitive ecological environmental areas.

The Booysendal operations encompass several ecologically sensitive areas, some of which are of critical biodiversity importance. The Buttonshope Conservancy Trust was established in 2010 to ensure the conservation, rehabilitation and protection of the natural environment at Booysendal.

Together the Booysendal operation and the Buttonshope Conservation Trust own 12 937 hectares (ha) of the 14 691 ha under its control. Of this, 8 540 hectares is managed independently from the Booysendal operations and includes 3 339 hectares specifically dedicated for Booysendal’s biodiversity offset and is under management control of the Trust. The Trust In F2022, the Trust acquired 171 ha of additional land to the value of R21 million in support of the offset. This is in line with the National Draft Biodiversity Offset Policy which stipulates that the offset is 30 times the size of the land physically disturbed by mining.

In terms of the biodiversity offset agreement Northam undertakes to transfer all protected areas managed by the Trust to the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency after the closure of the Booysendal operations.

Offset areas managed by the Buttonshope Conservation Trust notably include rivers and their catchment areas, featuring a unique area of montane grassland near the headwaters of the Groot-Dwars River which traverses the Booysendal mining area.

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Rehabilitation and closure

The closure of mining operations may have potential impacts on the workforce, the wider community, the local economy and the environment. The associated potential closure risks are considered in the planning and construction phases of the operations with the aim of calculating rehabilitation, closure and post closure liabilities. All wholly-owned operating mines have established closure and rehabilitation plans incorporated into their environmental management plans.

In line with the MPRDA and NEMA’s Financial Provision Regulations we are working on more detailed closure and rehab assessments, assisted by the involvement of an independent specialist. These liabilities will be assessed using commercial rates, which are higher and more realistic than the DMRE rates.

Closure and rehabilitation liabilities and provisions on 30 June 2023 (R’000)¹Financial provision liability based on DMRE rates

		Financial provision
	Liability (DMRE)	Bank Guarantee	Northam Platinum Restoration Fund
Zondereinde	R 292 093	R 225 187	R 76 976
Booysendal	R 329 828	R 260 240	—
Eland	R 263 041	R 279 988	R 76 976
Group total 30 June 2023	R 884 962	R 765 415	R 153 952
Group total 30 June 2022	R 961 391	R 733 586	R 142 568

¹ For further information, please refer to annual financial statements Note 28 for a comparison of the DMRE closure quantum liability and commercial liability.

For more detailed data, see our ESG data sheets (xls)

Improving air quality

The emission of sulphur dioxide and particulate emissions from the Zondereinde metallurgical operations is a material issue associated with air quality. The Zondereinde metallurgical facility operates under an Atmospheric Emission Licence (AEL) issued in terms of the National Environment Management Air Quality Act 39 of 2004. In terms of a postponement agreement which is effective until January 2025, the AEL provides for an interim main stack SO₂ emission limit of 3599mb/Nm#. This arrangement goes hand in hand with an emissions management plan and a particulate matter offset initiative.

The offset project focuses on reducing particulate emissions by improving waste collection, recycling and disposal practices and preventing burning of waste in the nearby Smashblock community. The focuses on reducing PM10 (particulate matter smaller than 10 μm) and PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm) from a combination of emission sources.

Over the past five years significant upgrades and improvements have been made at the processing facilities – with a focus primarily on air quality and stormwater management, with a capital spend of some R738 million to date. In addition an amount of R218 million was invested in a management plan dedicated to particulate emissions.

Dust fallout and impact related to this are a concern for many mine communities. Dust emissions are largely associated with unpaved roads and certain production activities, such as stockpiles and unvegetated tailings dams. Operational controls, including the vegetating of tailings dams and dust suppression applications, are in place to limit dust emissions. All operations have extensive networks of dust buckets to monitor dust fallout from production activities at the mines. The National Dust Control Regulations set the maximum dust fallout rate for industrial locations as 1200 mg/m²/day.

PERFORMANCE

Sulphur dioxide emissions intensity

Metallurgical processing: strategic execution programme