Veolia says it has renewed its contract with AngloGold Ashanti Ghana Limited, part of the South Africa headquartered gold mining company, AngloGold Ashanti, with Veolia Ghana Limited continuing to be responsible for operating and maintaining all the water treatment plants for the Obuasi open-pit and underground operations in Ghana.

These two-year extension confirms Veolia’s operational know-how in the preservation, depollution and renewal of water resources for the mining industry, it says.

Six facilities are required to guarantee the treated water and discharge quality for AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine: four wastewater treatment plants and two drinking water treatment plants.

This water is used in various activities associated with the exploration, extraction and transformation processes associated with mining, whether that is to process ore, remove dust, transport sludge, or supply employees needs. In a tropical climate subject to highly seasonal heavy rainfall, it is the Ghanaian gold mine’s responsibility to manage its wastewater and its process residue in order to comply with the local Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements in terms of discharges into the ecosystem.

Veolia, in 2019, was originally awarded a four-year contract to carry out these services at Obuasi. During these four years, it was awarded “Best Contractor Company in Quarter 3 2022” by AngloGold Ashanti Ghana, having worked more than 1 million hours without a single accident-related stoppage. Veolia also managed to comply with the environmental requirements in force by producing nearly 33.5 million cu.m of water, including about 7 million cu.m of drinking water for the needs of the site and surrounding communities.

Philippe Bourdeaux, Veolia’s Executive Vice President, Africa and Middle East, said: “Our group works side by side with industrial companies to respond to the major challenges they face, both in Africa and around the world. Veolia will continue to make its know-how
available to AngloGold Ashanti and to the mining industry to manage water as a finite and endangered resource.”