What are the top 3 growth trends in water treatment for mining?

According to Bluefield Research, there are three trends driving growth in water for mining:

1) Nearly 50 percent, or US$223 billion, of planed hard-rock investment globally is slated for regions with medium-to-high water stress.

2) New regulations on water supply, wastewater treatment, and acid mine drainage in key markets are forcing miners to adopt solutions.

3) Advanced treatment technology is helping to drive down the water demand per ton of mined ore.

More:http://bluefieldresearch.com/water-treatment-for-global-mining-competition-costs-demand-outlook-2014-2019/

1 Answer

1. Dear Nicholas, I think treatment of water used in hard rock mining is growing due the reducing levels of waters and the increase in global water demand. Wastewater treatment is a very important and environmentally friendly option to produce fresh water. Both wastewater treatment methods (a short description of the process:http://www.arabwatersource.com/water-blog/-the-wastewater-treatment-process-and-its-benefits-a-short-overview) and desalination processes can be used to treat waste brackish water produced from the mining processes. Here is a detailed description of the most popular desalination processes and how they can be used to treat brackish water: http://www.arabwatersource.com/water-blog/the-desalination-processes-a-detailed-description. Therefore, I think the only important trend that is increasing wastewater treatment of water used in mining is the worldwide increase in water scarcity. As we know everything depends on water after all.