1
Compiled by Dr. Joe Herbertson
June 2001
Sustainable Resource Processing
Case Study: WMC Material Flows
The diversified resource company WMC, a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and a key player in the Global Mining Initiative, is now reporting on community and environment issues 2. This includes an overall inputs and outputs analysis of their Australian operations 3, which provides a starting point for understanding the ratio of generated value to environmental impacts
1: Energy sources include electricity 33%, Diesel 20%, Natural Gas 38%, LPG 4%, Coke 4%; emissions exclude electricity generation or suppliers’ emissions
2. ‘Toward Sustainable Development’, WMC, March 2001; see www.wmc.com
3. The WMC data presented here is reformatted  and figures are sometimes rounded
MAJOR INPUTS
Ore   28.7Mt
Water      32Mt
Energy 1   21.9TJ
Explosives       20kt
Caustic      7.3kt
Lime       28kt
Sulfur        194kt
Cyanide      2.6kt
Sulfuric Acid     144kt
Land use          595Ha
WASTES & EMISSIONS
Tailings     25.8Mt
SO2         43kt
CO2        2.7Mt
Gypsum       1.1Mt
Smelter residue    651kt
Refinery residue     12kt
Plus some chemicals, oils and greases to landfill, particulate emissions etc.
VALUE OUTPUTS
Nickel     60.5kt
Gold      22.7t
Silver      17.8t
Copper      200kt
Uranium       4.5kt
Fertiliser      326kt
Talc      192kt
Sulfuric Acid      418kt
Ammonia Sulfate 185kt
Mixed Sulfides   2.8kt
Rehabilitation     138Ha