As the drought rages on in the U.S. West, mining operators and other water users may have to ride a Big Wave of regulatory change and higher water costs.
RENO (MINEWEB) – In speech to the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration national convention in Salt Lake City earlier this year, Hecla Mining External Relations Vice President, Luke Russell warned attendees that water quantity and quality issues are the fastest growing economic and social challenge the mining industry faces today.
Mining companies spent $12 billion globally in 2013 on water infrastructure, a 275% increase from 2009, Russell observed, yet mining production costs were only up 52% in the same period.
The Western Governor’s Drought Forum held in Arizona last week examined the challenges facing mining, manufacturing and industry during a 15-year long period of drought with more than 70% of the western United States in the grip of a water shortage that shows no signs of ending.
On Monday, the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institute and Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment held a joint session in California to discuss the undeniable fact that the West is bone dry and the water crisis has become as much an economic issue as an environmental concern and demands focused national attention.
Most of the mining companies contacted for this story indicated that their operations are not yet impacted by the drought. However, mining companies who also own ranches or farms, such as Newmont Mining’s Nevada operations, have reduced the size of its cattle herds and hauled water for livestock and wildlife.
In an e-mail to Mineweb Monday, top U.S. primary silver producer Hecla Mining’s Russell said, “Hecla is fortunate in that thus far, drought is not significantly impacting our operations in Alaska, Idaho or Quebec. Nevertheless, we continue to look for ways to minimize fresh water withdrawal by recirculation and reusing as much water as we can at each of our operations.”
New Gold’s Mesquite Mine is located in one the driest, hottest regions in the U.S. near Yuma, Arizona, and Brawley, California. The region averages 3.15 inches of rainfall annually with summer temperatures averaging 107-F in July and 106F in August.
Like most of today’s hardrock mining companies, New Gold’s mines operates in a close circuit with no water discharges. In 2012, the company recycled 27.3 million cubic meters of water—almost five time the amount of water the company withdrew from natural resources.
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