Two years ago consultancy group Wood Mackenzie predicted copper demand would keep rising, warning that water use at mines would also soar, with all the costs and problems that entails.
It’s the sort of threat that is urging mines right around the world to find more sustainable, efficient ways to use water. And it’s the reason we picked water to kick off our Zero Emissions project, with a final report due in June.
And as a major milestone we have just run our first online webinar on the topic—-Desalination State of Art – Emerging Technologies for the Copper Industry.
Our three expert speakers—Garth Walter, Michael Howard and Dr Alex Cech—gave cutting edge presentations on the art of reverse osmosis membrane technology for desalination and copper mining.
With a focus on innovation, emerging technologies and improvements that reduce energy or eliminate emissions, the expert panel outlined several new technologies and processes being developed globally to move towards zero emissions in copper production.
The virtual meeting was joined by an online audience of around 50 people from here and around the world to both listen and raise questions in the virtual discussion that followed each talk.
We in turn picked up a lot of great information that we will now follow up as we head toward producing a final ‘deep tech’ report outlining the latest global developments in sustainable water.
This first phase of the Zero Emissions project is sponsored by copper miners Sandfire Resources and Anglo American, as well as the global Copper Alliance. Our final report will cover issues like baseline water balance, dewatering of mine sites, desalination, operational water use, and tailings and recycling.
I expect it to be a must read for anyone concerned about mining and water.
For more information: Ashley Brinson: ashley@brinson.com.au
Cheers, John Fennell