RIO Tinto Coal Australia has released its Sustainable Development reporting data for 2008.
The company says that the year was free of any significant environmental incidents, or incidents carrying regulatory fines or penalties, across its four Queensland coal mines and three New South Wales sites.
Managing Director Bill Champion says he is particularly pleased with the achievements obtained in environmental categories in which the company voluntarily set its own stretch targets, over and above the statutory requirements.
Champion says Rio Tinto Coal Australia is committed to integrating sustainable development into everything we do. However to do this we have needed to be flexible in our business planning and day-to-day tasks to ensure we meet these new challenges head on, but remain focussed on goals and targets.
The Director says that during 2008, the company’s energy management programme accounted for reduced emissions of more than 38,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas, through a range of efficiency programmes across its sites. This built on the reduced emissions of just over 18,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas achieved in 2007.
Champion claims that the overall the mining company was significantly below its freshwater usage target. He says that while the results were positive, the sustainable development data highlighted some areas for further improvement, and this was already being incorporated into 2009 activities.
The company is also plans to reduce fuel usage with the new in-pit crushing and conveyor system at Clermont Mine which will greatly reduce the number of trucks needed to mine effectively, while Hail Creek Mine is leading the way with the recent commissioning of an extensive fuel measurement system that will help us understand how to reduce fuel use even more.
It is the seventh year that Rio Tinto Coal Australia has voluntarily reported on its contribution to sustainable development. Please click here for Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s full report.
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