Water
At Cerrejón, our responsibility for managing and preserving water as an essential resource for life is tangible. We do not use water from rivers or streams for coal extraction activities. We work on conservation processes for the ecosystems of various streams, such as Palomino, Paladines, Cerrejón, Tabaco, Aguasblancas, and Bruno, which is a key factor for supporting a constant contribution of these tributaries to the flow of the Ranchería River.
In our operation we use industrial or mining water, which is not suitable for human or animal consumption or for crop irrigation. A significant amount of the water used in our processes comes from rainwater, which we use to control dust emissions from the operation. The remaining water is sourced from the Ranchería River and its alluvial aquifer and is used for the consumption of employees, their families, and contractors.
At Puerto Bolívar, 100% of the water we use comes from the sea and is treated in a desalination plant.
We have more than 180 water quality monitoring stations across our operation to help preserve this key resource. We carry out regular monitoring of water sources near our operations to help ensure that their quality and quantity remain within optimal parameters.