The use of hazardous materials is minimal in the diamond mining industry. The extraction of diamond-bearing material is a largely physical process and does not require the use of hazardous substances. The treatment process however does in some cases require hazardous materials as noted below. Minimising and eliminating these hazardous substances forms the foundation of our materials and waste initiative. Hazardous materials In 2006, the family of companies identified the five most significant hazardous substances in use across our operations. These substances were identified based on both their hazard rating as well as the quantity in which they are used.
	They are hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sodium hydroxide and sulphuric acid. These substances are used mainly for pH control, the dissolution of kimberlite and diamond cleaning. Of the 1.5 million litres of hazardous chemicals used during the year, 81% of this volume was hydrochloric acid used at Venetia mine where there are settlement problems with highly alkaline smectite clays. Hydrochloric acid is used to reduce the alkalinity of discharge to a neutral level. Controls and guidance materials are in place to manage any risk associated with these substances. The effectiveness of these controls is third party audited through the ISO 14001 certification processes and our safety management systems. Opportunities to use non-hazardous alternatives and decrease volumes of hazardous substances used are being investigated. Where substances cannot be substituted, best practice procedures and guidance relating to storage, use and disposal are being developed and will be communicated to operations. Initiatives in our exploration sample treatment process relate largely to the replacement of existing chemicals with safer more environment-friendly alternatives. This includes the replacement of bromoform with lithium silicotungstate as part of the heavy mineral separation process; as implemented in our Australian and Canadian laboratories and currently being implemented in South Africa. Eucalyptus oil has also replaced trichloroethylene for the cleaning of slides used during grain mounting. Waste Waste is separated into categories at source to ensure appropriate disposal and recycling. In 2005, more than 3.4 million litres of used oils were collected for recycling and reuse at our mining and exploration operations. Most of this is recycled off site, except for some of our Namdeb operations where it is reused as fuel. Recycling The recycling streams (and annual totals for 2004 and 2005, respectively, of recycling sent off-site) include cardboard and paper (374 and 394 tonnes), scrap metal and cans (14 804 and 23 640 tonnes), drums (8 378 and 4 481 tonnes), lead acid batteries (3 631 and 3 247 tonnes), toner/ink cartridges (2 138 and 2 156 tonnes), tyres (2 043 and 1 612 tonnes), conveyor belting and small quantities of plastic and glass. Hazardous waste produced during the mining process is either responsibly stored on site for future management or disposed of through certified hazardous waste sites. Waste from our Botswana and Namibian operations is generally disposed of through facilities in South Africa. Any movement of such waste is conducted in full compliance with the Basel Convention for controlling the transboundary movements of applicable hazardous wastes. No fines were incurred due to improper storage or disposal of waste in 2005. Case study - Recycling used oil with the Rose Foundation