You can’t simply replace water and say, oh, we’ve mitigated it.” Despite the impacts, the company says mining in drier places can be more prudent. While some risks are lessened in drier areas, countries with more extreme water woes are taking measures to crack down on water use. Copper producers in the country have already invested to reduce water use, including BHP’s opening of a US$3.4-billion desalination plant last year to pump water to the world’s largest copper mine. Anglo American installed floating solar panels at a Chilean mine to both generate energy and reduce water evaporation. The increased concerns come as many mines require increasing amounts of water to process diluted ore, said Luke Fletcher, a senior analyst at CDP.

Source: thestar March 21, 2019 16:41 UTC