Authors: R. Philippe, R. Dixon, S. Dal Pozzo
Water in Mining. II International Congress on Water Management in the Mining Industry (WIM 2010), June 10th, 2010
Abstract
Water availability for the mining industry, especially in arid regions, has been declining rapidly over time. As a consequence, mining companies are evaluating several sustainable alternative water supply options, whereby the viability of seawater usage is considered. When considering seawater as the process water supply source, in most cases the choice between desalinated seawater or raw seawater use is determined in function of a cost analysis based only on investment and operational cost analysis. The difference between the options is expressed as a cost difference based on corrosion mitigation. However, as this paper explains, there are other cost factors as well that have a severe impact on the overall project and that not always are considered: Process behaviour, overall water requirement, tailings pond behaviour, all may have a significant operational and investment cost impact. This paper will discuss the effects of the use of desalinated seawater compared to raw seawater on mining projects, and includes the economical aspects of both alternatives. Contrary to popular believe, it is expected that for most mining projects, the total operational cost of desalinated seawater supply will be lower than the use of direct seawater.
