Veolia Seeks More Revenue from Mining Industry's Water, Waste Treatment

By Inti Landauro

PARIS--Veolia Environnement (VIE.FR), the world's largest water and waste collection utility, seeks to double the revenue it gets from treating water and waste for the mining and metal industries by 2020.

Veolia already provides water treatment for many of the world's largest mines, Chief Executive Officer Antoine Frerot told reporters in a presentation Tuesday. Mining operations are often located in faraway areas where water is scarce and the risk of pollution is high, he said.

The French company earned 700 million euros ($966 million) in revenue from the business in 2013 and expects to more than double it by 2020 to EUR1.5 billion, Mr. Frerot said. Veolia's overall revenue was EUR22.31 billion in 2013.

The mining and metal industry is the second-most water-thirsty in the world, he said. The expansion in that field is part of the company's focus on servicing industrial customers instead of delivering water and sewage services to cities and towns.

The world's largest waste and water company by revenue has been bitterly hit by the economic crisis which has cut its long term financing while calling into question some of its most profitable waste and water contracts in Europe. This forced the utility to rethink its businesses and its geographical exposure, cutting it to 40 countries, selling businesses in the U.K. and the U.S. and cutting jobs.

Beside servicing mining companies, the company plans to diversify into other businesses, such as the decommissioning and recycling of oil rigs and nuclear power plants.

Veolia forecasts that the global market for water and waste collection services for the mining and metals industry will expand to annual revenue of EUR20, up from between EUR13 billion and EUR14 billion now.

Mining giants such as Brazil's Vale SA (VALE), Australia's BHP Billiton (RIO) or Canada's Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) are increasingly turning to companies such as Veolia to lower the negative impact on the environment and lessen the opposition by local communities, who sometimes oppose these projects. Additionally, by recovering and treating waste, Veolia ultimately can extract minerals that would otherwise be thrown away and ultimately generate increased profit for the mines.

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