As the world begins to decarbonise, the copper industry also faces its own complex challenges to approach carbon neutrality.
This Water Report, the first in a series of five studies from the Zero Emission Copper Mine of the Future project launched in 2020, focusses on the sustainable use of water across the industry, from mining to copper metal manufacture.
Copper companies already operate in areas of high water stress. This pressure will grow as the world demands more copper for electrification and clean energy, existing mines grow old, and new projects become more difficult to find.
The use of water is already significant and expensive across the copper industry, with purifying, pumping, recycling and managing it all energy intensive. Water management is also highly complex and interdependent, with the capacity to enhance or derail metal production processes and their optimum economic performance.
Developed in consultation with 30 industry experts, this report outlines a technology roadmap that envisions how copper mines can:
- Reduce broader impacts of excessive water use
- Reduce overall water and energy demands
- Maximise reuse and water recycling efforts
- Minimise wastewater disposal
- Adopt advanced treatment solutions greater reuse and cleaner discharge
The Water Report suggests a further Six Innovation Themes:
- Base line measurement
- Dewatering
- Desalination
- Operational water use
- Tailings
- End use and reuse
There is no one simple solution or ‘one plan fits all’ option for every company and mine site. Rather the report offers a series of opportunities to deliver Horizon 1 or ‘off the shelf’ solutions, Horizon 2 or ‘emerging’ technologies, and Horizon 3 or ‘fundamentally new’ innovations to improve water use and cut emissions to net zero in the future.
Fostering an innovative, collaborative culture will be key. The copper industry already works closely with government, research organisations, the METS sector and the wider community, but the report suggests important Catalyst Pathways to help accelerate this process, including Transactional & Innovation Partnerships, Thematic Collaborations, Research and Industry Programs, Industry Consortia, Capital and Business Models.
Achieving a Zero Emission Copper Mine of the Future is an urgent imperative with significant business, environmental and technological benefits for all stakeholders, and Water will be one crucial factor to achieving the goal. The Water Report outlines the opportunities and challenges for copper companies, blending both incremental change and breakthrough innovation to create a high tech, visionary and collaborative industry ready for the future.
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