Sunrise Dam

Sunrise Dam is a metal ore mining facility operated by AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited in WA. Like all covered facilities, iron ore, gold and base metal mining uses significant diesel and electricity. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Sunrise Dam must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Sunrise Dam reported emissions of 166 kt against a baseline obligation of 147 kt — an overage of 19 kt. The facility covered the 19 kt overage by purchasing 18,798 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Sunrise Dam specifically.

Across the metal ore mining sector, 8 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Sunrise Dam with other metal ore mining facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.