Exxaro Resources Ltd

Exxaro Resources is a major South African mining company whose primary operations involve large-scale open-pit coal mining. This extractive activity inherently causes significant documented environmental destruction, including land clearing, soil contamination, and habitat disruption. The company's own reporting cites examples of hazardous waste from its operations, such as contaminated soil.

The company's proposed Belfast Mine Expansion Project required a Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report in 2022, indicating ongoing plans to extend its mining footprint. While Exxaro reports on initiatives like species relocation and wetland rehabilitation, these efforts are reactive measures addressing the fundamental habitat destruction caused by its core business of surface coal mining.

Exxaro Resources is a South African mining company whose core commodity is coal. The company’s primary business is the mining, processing, and sale of thermal coal, which it describes as central to its operations and to South Africa's energy security. Its integrated report identifies decarbonisation as a material risk, reflecting the fundamental climate impact of its business model.

While the company notes investments in an “energy solutions” business, its 2024 reporting frames coal portfolio optimization as a strategy to support ongoing energy security, rather than outlining a committed phase-out of fossil fuel extraction. Exxaro’s operations and revenue remain anchored in coal mining.

Exxaro Resources is among South Africa's top five coal producers, deriving the vast majority of its revenue from the mining and sale of thermal and metallurgical coal. The company's primary business activity is the operation of large-scale coal mines, particularly in the Mpumalanga province. A 2019 report by the Centre for Environmental Rights on eight major coal mines in Mpumalanga, which included Exxaro operations, uncovered widespread non-compliance with environmental laws, highlighting the company's central role in a region heavily impacted by coal extraction. While Exxaro has diversified into renewable energy investments, coal mining remains its dominant and defining commercial activity.