JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Keeping people out of harm’s way, extracting more precious ore and less waste rock, recycling all the required water and producing only dry tailings are among the innovative steps diversified mining company Anglo American is firmly committed to taking. 

“The real future of mining lies in turning conventional thinking on its head. That’s our approach,” Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani told shareholders unequivocally at the company’s annual general meeting in London, at which Anglo chairperson Sir John Parker gave the categorical assurance that the company is committed to the innovative use of technology to improve safety and productivity and reduce its environmental footprint.

“We’re committed to an innovative approach,” Parker said, referring to the company’s new FutureSmart Mining^TM programme.

Cutifani described the company’s FutureSmart Mining™ programme as how it sees mining’s future.

“Now is the time to make these step changes,” he said.

The “few remote control trucks” that had been “thrown in” had done little to advance the industry, but the real future lay in major innovative change to retain social licences to operate and access ever more remote orebodies.

Leading the innovative charge for the company is technical director Tony O’Neill.

“For those of us with a very real interest in how you extract metals and minerals safely, sustainably and profitably, these are truly exciting times,” Cutifani added.

ELEVEN FATALITIES 

Although Anglo has only 41 remaining assets and although it succeeded in lifting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation well above target to $6.1-billion in 2016, it has performed abysmally on the fatality front, presiding over the death of 11 of its personnel, nearly double the six of 2015.

Cutifani condemned the sharp rise in fatalities as being “both unacceptable and extremely disappointing” and Parker revealed that the board’s sustainability committee chairperson Jack Thompson had been assigned to give added impetus to the company’s drive towards zero harm. 

Heightened attention was also being given to the company’s 90 slimes dams and 200 water dams, with a new mineral-residue technical standard being implemented across all relevant operations resulting in 85% fewer environmental incidents than in 2013. 

TRUST DEFICIT

Parker described the general population’s trust in business, government, nongovernmental organisations and the media as being in broad decline and in need of rebuilding.

Addressing people’s fears needed to be placed at the centre of everything done by business, which was why the Anglo board had become directly involved in the implementation of a code of conduct, which clarifies the consistent behaviour required to continue to earn the trust that gives the company its social licence to operate. 

In this regard the company had so far only managed a ‘B’ rating and was in the process of making changes to ensure that it achieved an ‘A’ rating “as soon as possible”. 

GREATER RESILIENCE

Anglo is setting out to build on the resilience that it has already built up aimed at remaining profitable in down cycles, by maintaining a portfolio of high-quality assets that provide sustainable margins. 

The company, which focuses on diamonds, platinum-group metals and copper, with bulk commodities and other minerals packaged under one team, has demonstrated an ability to drive rapid productivity and cost improvements on a broad scale, and has consolidated its marketing functions across all of the commodities except diamonds, to get the best of the logistics and cost opportunities.  

Anglo has succeeded in selling its products at a more competitive price and, as a consequence, the business has improved the quality of its earnings engine, reflected in a lower cost base.

“We’re a more resilient business through the commodity price cycle,” Cutifani told shareholders, “and we’ll continue building on our business improvements, targeting $1-billion of cost and volume improvements in 2017.”