Authors:
P.J. Bangerter, R.E. Dixon, M. Villegas
Water in Mining 2010 Conference, Santiago, Chile, June 2010
Abstract
During the evaluation of mining projects, it is often the case that the cost of the water to be used for the project is estimated using mainly considerations such as the cost of digging wells and the capital and operating costs associated with pumping systems. This approach does not include estimations of impacts of water use on neighbouring communities or on the environment. As a result, high costs have to be paid sometimes later in the life of the project, and is appreciated only after the fact that original decisions would probably have been guided in a different direction if all of the information had been known and considered at the time.
New methodology, which uses especially developed Sustainable Development Tools, helps anticipate issues considered external to the Mining operation per se, by integrating these aspects early in the design cycle. It is a comprehensive approach that allows for the compilation and conversion of “soft” criteria into numerical values that can then be used for quantitative and objective comparisons of different alternatives. The overall sustainability methodology will be presented, using examples focused on water use for mining operations.
