Anglo American and IAEA Partner to Combat Soil Degradation with Innovative Fertilizer Solution

Anglo American and IAEA Partner to Combat Soil Degradation with Innovative Fertilizer Solution

(IN BRIEF) Anglo American has partnered with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the potential of polyhalite, a natural multi-nutrient mineral fertilizer, to combat soil salinisation and improve crop productivity. The five-year research project, supported by the FAO and IAEA’s Atoms4Food initiative, will use isotopic techniques to study polyhalite’s impact on soil health and agricultural resilience amid climate challenges. Sourced from Anglo American’s UK-based Woodsmith mine, polyhalite offers a sustainable, low-carbon solution to global food security issues. The initiative underscores the need for scientific innovation and cross-sector collaboration to address soil degradation and ensure sustainable farming practices.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 28-Nov-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Anglo American has entered a landmark partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to explore innovative solutions for combating soil salinisation, a significant threat to global food security. The collaboration will leverage isotopic techniques to assess the potential of polyhalite, Anglo American’s multi-nutrient natural mineral fertilizer, in mitigating soil salinity and enhancing agricultural productivity.

This five-year project, conducted jointly by the IAEA and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the Atoms4Food initiative, will focus on polyhalite’s ability to restore soil health, improve crop resilience, and boost yields in a changing climate. Soil salinisation, caused by factors such as poor farming practices, seawater intrusion, and climate change, impacts 932 million hectares globally, threatening one-third of irrigated land.

Anglo American will supply polyhalite from its Woodsmith mine in the UK, which is currently under development. As a naturally occurring mineral rich in potassium, sulphur, magnesium, and calcium, polyhalite is positioned as a scalable, low-carbon, and organic fertilizer solution capable of addressing the dual challenges of increasing agricultural yields while reducing environmental impacts.

The Atoms4Food initiative, launched last year, builds on nearly six decades of IAEA-FAO collaboration in applying nuclear techniques to enhance food security and sustainability worldwide. The project aligns with their mission to promote resilient farming practices and combat soil degradation.

Tom McCulley, CEO of Anglo American’s Crop Nutrients division, emphasized the significance of the partnership: “This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to re-imagining mining for the betterment of society. Addressing soil degradation and salinisation is a pressing yet underrecognized challenge. Through the development of the world’s largest known polyhalite deposit at our UK mine, we aim to offer a sustainable solution for global agriculture. I commend the IAEA and FAO for their leadership and look forward to making a meaningful impact together.”

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, highlighted the importance of science and innovation in addressing global hunger: “To enhance food security, we must harness every available tool, including nuclear techniques, and foster collaboration across sectors. This partnership with Anglo American enables us to amplify our efforts and scale interventions to address critical agricultural challenges.”

The initiative marks a significant step in combining scientific innovation with sustainable agricultural practices to tackle one of the world’s most urgent issues: restoring soil health to secure the future of food production.

Notes to editors:

Anglo American is a leading global mining company focused on the responsible production of copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients – future-enabling products that are essential for decarbonising the global economy, improving living standards, and food security. Our portfolio of world-class operations and outstanding resource endowments offers value-accretive growth potential across all three businesses, positioning us to deliver into structurally attractive major demand growth trends.

Our integrated approach to sustainability and innovation drives our decision-making across the value chain, from how we discover new resources to how we mine, process, move and market our products to our customers – safely, efficiently and responsibly. Our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to a series of stretching goals over different time horizons to ensure we contribute to a healthy environment, create thriving communities and build trust as a corporate leader. We work together with our business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for our shareholders, for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, and for society as a whole. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

Anglo American is currently implementing a number of major structural changes to unlock the inherent value in its portfolio and thereby accelerate delivery of its strategic priorities of Operational excellence, Portfolio simplification, and Growth. This portfolio transformation will focus Anglo American on its world-class resource asset base in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, once the sale of our steelmaking coal and nickel businesses, the demerger of our PGMs business (Anglo American Platinum), and the separation of our iconic diamond business (De Beers) have been completed.

www.angloamerican.com

About the IAEA

Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization within the United Nations family, the IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear field. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies. For more information, visit IAEA.org.

i Guideline for Salinity Assessment, Mitigation and Adaptation Using Nuclear and Related Techniques | SpringerLink

ii Soil Salinity, a Serious Environmental Issue and Plant Responses: A Metabolomics Perspective – PubMed

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SOURCE: Anglo American