Sea water covers about 8% of the mining needs
Cochilco notes that the use of these sources will increase in the coming years. There are 17 projects in the country
Minera Escondida said last week that they will invest U.S. $ 3,430 million in the construction of the largest desalination plant in the country, to ensure the water supply required by their mining operations in the future. That not only set a single event, but shows a tendency on the increased use of this type of water resources in the mining sector.
According to a study made by the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) “the great challenge to develop mining in a sustainable way in the near future, it seems to be the sea water.”
The report, entitled “Updating information on water consumption in copper mining by 2012” says that by analyzing fresh-water withdrawals made by domestic copper industry, we find that national waters from the sea constitute 8% of the total used, value which is expected to be increasing in the coming years. In fact, consumption of seawater in copper mining increased 37% between 2012 and 2011, after going from 713 l / s to 978 l / s last year.
Other sources more important today are the surface origin waters, explaining 44% of withdrawals, the underground source (42%), and acquired others (6%).
“Mining companies are very committed to using sea water to overcome the issue of water restrictions they have. It’s a trend, “said the Cochilco’s Director of Studies, Maria Cristina Betancourt. She added that in the north of the country this number is higher, reaching 18% of total water consumption of copper mining in the Second Region.
Currently, there are 16 desalination plant projects for copper mining in the country, in operation or under different levels of development. In addition, there are another nine drive systems seawater.
Betancourt said that such projects could be on the rise, in order to respond to water requirements of the industry. He added that the current levels that Chile presents are good indicators, and are also supported by the use of modern technologies and cutting-edge. Considering the 17 projects are in the pipeline, which include initiatives from Goldcorp, Codelco and Anglo American (all at different stages) – the agency is doing a study to be finalized by the end of the year to determine what percentage would raise the sea water intake by the copper mining industry.
The document also found that fresh water withdrawals last year fell slightly compared to 2011, going from 12.6 to 12.4 m3/sec m4/seg. This according to Cochilco, “reflects the concern for the copper industry in reducing fresh water consumption.”
From that Energy consumption, concentrate production sued 74%, while the cathode reached 11%. The remaining 14% was explained by other uses such as mine water for suppression roads, camps, services, among others.
Source: La Tercera.cl
