Half of Chile's copper mining in 2026 will come from seawater desalination

Recently, the Chilean National Copper Commission issued a survey report titled "Mineral Water Consumption Forecast for 2026". According to the report, by 2026, seawater desalination can meet about half of the freshwater demand of the copper mining industry in Chile.

The report shows that by 2026, the total freshwater consumption required for copper mining in Chile will decrease by 19% to 933,000 cubic meters/day. At the same time, the report believes that due to the construction of the new desalination project and the expansion of the completed desalination project, seawater consumption will increase about four times during the same period to 924,000 cubic meters per day.

According to the report, the greatest increase in seawater desalination is in relatively water-short areas such as Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo and Tarapacá.

Chilean mining minister Aurora Williams stated that mining companies need to use seawater in more processes to ease the pressure of lack of freshwater resources in their area.

It is understood that the mining industry is very important to Chile’s economic development. Only one copper mine can bring more than one-third of its economic income to the country. However, the huge amount of freshwater consumption in the mining industry has also led to frequent clashes between mining companies and local communities. Local residents are worried that mining plants will pollute the local water quality and reduce the amount of potable water.

Since the beginning of this year, the drought problem has caused the mining sector in Chile to suffer further blows and mining production will also be affected.

At present, the Chilean government is considering adopting mandatory measures to require some mining companies to build their own desalination projects to supply fresh water for themselves to achieve normal operations.

Source: China Nonferrous Metals