The different dimensions related to water availability in mining, one of the main challenges facing the industry today, will subject to analysis throughout the 4th International Congree on Water Management in Mining, Water in Mining 2014. The confress will take place on May 28-30 at the Sheraton Miramar Hotel in Viña del Mar, Chile.
The vice president of the congress and director of the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry (SMI) at the University of Queensland, Australia, Neil McIntyre, said that there are three dimensions in terms of the challenges with water supply.
McIntyre indicated that the first issue is to estimate and manage the risks related to the uncertainty of future water supplies, since the variability of the supply is changing. “Mining companies in many regions will need to look more carefully at characterising this risk, and managing it in their strategy, project planning and operations,” he said.
Achieving a balance of water and energy risk adds a second dimension to the challenge. The third aspect is the social perspective, “Major challenges on the social side are identifying acceptable balances between mining's water consumption and competing uses of water, creating solutions to ease tensions over water, and effective communication of water management issues,” McIntyre said.
The congress’ preliminary program is made up of 112 abstracts from 24 countries and is jointly organized by the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry from the University of Queensland and the company Gecamin. The congress chair is Álvaro Herández, Directo of Water Resources at Codelco, Chile.
More information in gecamin.com/waterinmining
