Water Management
The alchemy of added value
The mining industry’s approach to water is not what it once was. A formerly primarily reactive approach has evolved into an early-stage, life-of-mine planning consideration, drawing in considerations of water treatment, circularity and reclamation. This change has arisen from multiple points of origin. Regulations governing water use have grown in number, scope and stringency. Communities have grown more aware of their rights and the risks poor water management can pose to their lives, and more vocal about protection and mitigation. At operations around the world, climate change-driven floods and droughts have made the tremendous power and treasured value of water to mining operators all the more obvious.
Through its responses to those developments, as well as an increased realization of its long-term benefits, not least due to high-profile and harmful failures around the globe in recent decades, the mining industry has adopted a proactive approach to water management. Today, some mines – though, it must be stressed, by no means all – output waste water in a cleaner state than when it entered their operations. This represents a still-underappreciated paradigm shift in the industry’s operational practices.
There is an additional rising tide of acknowledgement not only of the need for sustainability-minded environmental protection, but of the potential to unlock new value and improve mining efficiency through the implementation of innovative water management science and technology. Tailings storage facilities – once seen as just that, storage – have emerged as an additional source of once-disregarded, now-critical minerals. This can offer a double benefit, with tailings re-processing offering an opportunity for dewatering or site reclamation, thus delivering both environmental and economic gains. Recent examples in this region include Cartier Resources’ Chimo Tailings project, seeking to recover gold, or CoTec’s reprocessing of tailings at Lac Jeannine for iron extraction.
This amounts to a textbook value-added proposition. Mine waste would otherwise be discarded, presenting a liability due to storage and maintenance costs. Instead, it can be transformed into a new source of revenue, with the latest methods offering opportunities to recover in-demand materials including lithium, rare earths and precious metals. If it were not based on the achievements of rigorous science and technological prowess, one might even consider it alchemy. David Oliphant, Veolia Water Technologies’ VP business development, offered his perspective: “It reduces environmental impact and disposal costs by minimizing waste volume, helps meet environmental regulations by removing contaminants from discharge water, and improves overall resource efficiency and sustainability. Additionally, the sale of recovered materials can offset water treatment costs.” Veolia offers integrated and mobile water management solutions including water and wastewater treatment, tailings dewatering and water reuse systems.
"Following high-profile environmental incidents, there is a broader recognition of environmental risk as a liability. Although mitigating risk does not generate immediate cash flow, it yields long-term value." Isabelle Demers, UQAT
Water itself is valuable, too. It is a critical asset at virtually every stage of the production cycle across various applications. Without water, you cannot mine. Although generally blessed with an abundance of water, Québec and Atlantic Canada’s mining companies must also consider the water supply needs of their local communities, as well as the provinces’ distinct seasonality. Furthermore, making use of water can demand large amounts of energy, and presents other challenges including corrosion. Therefore, water’s efficient use, squeezing every drop of value from every drop of water, is another area where operations are increasingly optimizing for both economic and environmental benefit.
ASDR is working to deliver ever-more efficient water management solutions. The company’s water management division has seen major growth since 2020, including the acquisition of New Brunswick-based water treatment and dredging firm ECO Technologies, and the development of new innovations. For example, ASDR has adapted its ECOMUD solution, developed in partnership with Eldorado Gold, to offer closed-loop water systems, optimized sludge processing, and lower energy use in drilling campaigns, for use underground. ASDR is implementing the adaption, known as ECOMUD LITE, with two clients aiming for net-zero mining operations. “We see this type of innovation and development as a win-win: The client optimizes their operations, and ASDR gets to test and design new technologies,” said Marco Rebuli, ASDR’s VP of business development.
Although the industry’s approach is much improved, it is still not perfect. In eastern Canada, harmful chemicals continue to migrate into water sources, with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls, synthetic organic chemicals whose industrial and commercial use has been banned in many countries since the 1970s) one culprit. Although no longer employed in novel applications, PCBs remain present in some older equipment still used in operations through the mining value chain. As some large operations run for many decades, the potential for build-up of harmful chemicals like PCBs is heightened.
Offering some relief is Sanexen’s PCBD, a mobile solution for the destruction of PCBs, as well as the company’s treatments for other pollutants. “This specialized technology has positioned the company as a key player in a niche market where regulatory standards are stringent and the sources of pollution can be complex,” Nathalie Viens, Sanexen’s CEO, remarked, and emphasized the need for collaboration between business, government and communities to achieve effective, long-term water management.
Article header image by Pete at Adobe Stock