Water. Desalination + reuse
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26 In Site March 2019 Water. desalination + reuse Chile's mining industry has been a hotbed of activity in the past 12 months with new and existing mines adding desalination capacity. The mines' locations high up in the mountains o en bring an added engineering challenge to projects. Chile's mining sector is driven by desalination FEBRUARY 2019 QUEBRADA BLANCA Copper IDE is to design and supply a modular desalination plant for Teck Resources' Quebrada Blanca copper mine extension project in northern Chile. The 102,360 m3/d facility will produce high-quality water for use in the copper concentrator. IDE's "experience in South America and commitment to high environmental standards were the keys to its success in winning the project," said Teck Resources project director for Quebrada Blanca phase 2 Karl Hroza. IDE has installed desalination plants at mines in South America including Aguas Antofagasta's Michilla mine in Chile, Southern Copper's smelter in Ilo Peru and in Cerrejon mine in Colombia. The modular design of the latest plant is expected to help simplify installation at the mine site and to reduce installation and startup time and cost. NOVEMBER 2018 SANTO DOMINGO Copper-iron-gold Capstone Mining Corporation is reviewing its holding in Santo Domingo copper-iron- gold project in Chile, a er completing a technical report on future developments to include a desalination project. Santo Domingo Iron Oxide-Copper Gold (IOCG) project will develop two open pit mines using conventional drilling, blasting, loading with diesel hydraulic shovels, and truck haulage; and a copper- iron concentrator using semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball milling, with conventional fl otation using desalinated water to produce copper concentrate. The planned infrastructure for the project will include a desalination plant and supply pipeline. Capstone has received an indicative proposal for the supply of desalinated water from a local supplier with a record of delivery. NOVEMBER 2018 MINERA LOS PELAMBRES Copper Antofagasta is to expand Minera Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile, constructing a new desalination plant and water pipeline as part of the works. The total cost of the expansion project is $1.3 billion, of which $500 million is for the desalination plant and pipeline. The water plant will supply the expansion and a potential further growth phase at the mine, as well as acting as back-up for the existing operation in case of extreme dry conditions. Los Pelambres is a sulphide deposit in Chile's Coquimbo region, 240 kilometres north-east of Santiago. Antofagasta won approval for an expansion that will increase copper production at the mine by 60,000 tonnes a year during the fi rst 15 years. The project is to begin in Q1 2019. OCTOBER 2018 ATACAMA Multi-client Trends Industrial's ambitious, multi-client, solar-powered desalination project to supply water to mines in Atacama desert, Chile, has been approved by the country's environmental agency. The project, named Energías y Aguas del Pacífi co (ENAPAC), underwent a year- long environmental impact study (EIS) which was passed by Chile's Environmental Evaluation Commission on 26 September 2018. "This is an important project milestone. The response from industry, particularly mining projects, has been very positive and we're advancing conversations with many companies," said Trends Industrial chief executive Rodrigo Silva. The proposal is for a 227,232 m3/d reverse osmosis desalination facility, powered by a 100 MW photovoltaic plant, and with a reservoir of 600,000 m3 capacity. The required investment is pegged at $500 million. JANUARY 2019 INDUSTRY DEMAND Copper The Chilean Ministry of Mines predicted a 230 per cent rise in the amount of seawater used by the industry during the coming decade. Comision Chilena del Cobre outlined an expected increase in copper production supported by higher use of sulphide ores which require a water-intensive process. The majority of new mines and mine expansion projects anticipate using seawater either directly or a er desalination. Mining accounts for three per cent of Chile's total water consumption. However, because mines are mostly located in arid regions the level of demand against local resources in the can be much higher than three per cent.