Water Management

MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

The role of water in mining

Mines use water during their mining operations for various purposes:

  • extracting,
  • ore processing,
  • flotation process.

Water in mining is classified under two categories:

  • non-contact water (water that does not have contact with mining), and
  • contact water.

Non-contact water is groundwater and surface water diverted from the facilities of the mine. Contact water includes groundwater and surface water found inside the natural ground of the mining site.

Protection and sustainable management of surface water and groundwater

Water management aims at water-use efficiency and reducing water consumption in the production cycle through maximizing recycling. We treat contact water at water treatment plants in our facilities, and we reuse it to wet roads inside the site, irrigate the plant nursery and other daily operations. 

We understand that water is valuable and therefore we manage water in three ways:

We limit consumption through dedicated projects.

We limit consumption through dedicated projects.

We divert surface water through channels to prevent it from entering the facilities.

We divert surface water through channels to prevent it from entering the facilities.

We use the pre-drainage drillings to lower groundwater level.

We use the pre-drainage drillings to lower groundwater level.

Water and the Environmental Monitoring Program

Water is a key parameter in the Environmental Monitoring Program implemented throughout the life cycle of our mines. When a mine is closed, we check the physical and chemical stability of the facilities to minimize any impacts on water resources.

The systematic monitoring of the quantity and the quality of water is conducted at 220 check points with a capacity to analyze up to 25 elements in each sample. Specifically:

44 monitoring

44 monitoring

points for surface water

99 drilling

99 drilling

points for monitoring the level and quality of groundwater

23 monitoring

23 monitoring

points for contact water 

46 monitoring

46 monitoring

points at drinking water abstraction locations 

8 monitoring

8 monitoring

points for sea water 

SUSTAINABILITY

Tailings management

At our mines, we follow the dry stacking international best practice, which involves dewatering and compressing tailings for safe storage at smaller facilities to achieve reduced operational footprint.

Find out more about Tailings Management