French transnational Veolia has signed a new water treatment contract with gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti Limited’s Obuasi gold mine, in Ghana.

AngloGold Ashanti Limited – a subsidiary of South Africa-based gold miner AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third-largest gold producer – has contracted wastewater and waste treatment firm Veolia Ghana to operate and maintain all of the water treatment plants at the Obuasi openpit and underground mines, Veolia Africa and Middle East (zone) director Christophe Maquet noted in a press release in June.

A minimum of six facilities, including four wastewater treatment plants and two potable water treatment plants, were needed to ensure the Obuasi mine’s treated water and discharge attained the qualities required by AngloGold Ashanti.

The plant management has been entrusted to Veolia for three years.

Water is essential for the mining industry, as it is used in various activities associated with the extraction phases: ore processing, dust control, sludge transportation, as well as for employees’ needs, Maquet stated.

In a tropical climate subject to highly seasonal heavy rainfall, the Ghanaian mine has a responsibility to manage its wastewater and process residue to ensure the mine complies with the local Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements for discharge into the ecosystem, he added.

A heavy consumer of water, the mining sector is one of the major growth areas identified by Veolia, and the group is working hand-in-hand with players in the industry to find solutions to the water challenges they face in Africa, and elsewhere in the world.

It is a strategic market segment with promising growth prospects for the group, Maquet affirmed.

“This new contract is confirmation of Veolia’s operational expertise in water and discharge treatment that is critical to the mining industry,” Maquet explained.

“By optimising the process water treatment for the Obuasi gold mine, we have an opportunity to improve the productivity of this crucial operation,” he concluded.