Gold miner, Harmony Gold Mining Company was recently awarded gold in the Water Conservation Category at the Eco-Logic Awards on 30 October in Cape Town for refurbishing three municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs).
Harmony would also like to congratulate Woolworths and South African Breweries (SAB) for being awarded silver and bronze respectively.
Access to secure water supply is critical to mining and the development of people, communities and the economy, especially in water-scarce jurisdictions. Where Harmony has mining operations in South Africa, municipalities have been unable to maintain and operate state-owned WWTPs.
To address this issue, and to contribute to a cleaner and more stable ecological environment around its mines, Harmony refurbished three WWTPs on behalf of the Matjhabeng, Matlosana and Merafong municipalities.
In her acceptance speech, Dr Urishanie Govender, Chief Sustainability Officer at Harmony noted: “It is remarkable that a mining company has been recognised for a water stewardship award. This demonstrates our commitment to Mining with Purpose where we create shared value for all our stakeholders. And, in so doing, we are giving back to our communities.
“We have partnered with our municipalities to increase sewage treatment capacity by around by 30 million litres per day. We have invested more than R35 million in refurbishing all three WWTPs and all three projects have been delivered on time, on budget with zero injuries.”
Harmony is grateful to the Eco-Logic Awards for providing a platform where companies can showcase their commitment to ESG.
