Mining water know-how flows to remote communitiesHow the mining sector’s expertise evolvedDoor opened on green shipping container showing equi...
Published by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Mining water know-how flows to remote communities
How the mining sector’s expertise evolved
Door opened on green shipping container showing equipment inside
Australia’s mining industry has spent decades dealing with water issues.
Mine operations, ore processing, tailings management, cooling and dust suppression require water and the management of mine impacted water from many of these operations is difficult to treat.
Water engineers treat water that is often saline, acidic, and / or heavy with dissolved minerals.
In February, Geoscience Australia estimated that mining accounts for 11 per cent of gross domestic product and directly employs about 300,000 people. The sector also consumed 749 gigalitres of water in 2023-24, second only to agriculture, forestry and fishing in water use by industry.
CSIRO has spent years working with the mining sector to develop technologies used in water management.
Expertise gained helping the industry to innovate under these harsh conditions is now helping solve ongoing issues of water supply in remote Indigenous communities.
The brine problem
Every desalination process concentrates the salt it removes into a waste stream. On the coast, that brine can go back to the ocean. Inland, options are far fewer.
“Inland communities either hold desalination waste in ponds, or truck it a long way for disposal,” said CSIRO research team leader and senior water research scientist, Dr Ramesh Thiruvenkatachari.
“Reducing the brine volume from these plants delivers both an environmental and an economic benefit.”
CSIRO-developed technology directly targets this issue and uses a thermal membrane, tested through the Australian Coal Association Research Program on coal mine brines and acidic mine water. It has now moved from the laboratory to pilot and prototype units.
How the mining sector’s expertise evolved
Door opened on green shipping container showing equipment inside
Australia’s mining industry has spent decades dealing with water issues.
Mine operations, ore processing, tailings management, cooling and dust suppression require water and the management of mine impacted water from many of these operations is difficult to treat.
Water engineers treat water that is often saline, acidic, and / or heavy with dissolved minerals.
In February, Geoscience Australia estimated that mining accounts for 11 per cent of gross domestic product and directly employs about 300,000 people. The sector also consumed 749 gigalitres of water in 2023-24, second only to agriculture, forestry and fishing in water use by industry.
CSIRO has spent years working with the mining sector to develop technologies used in water management.
Expertise gained helping the industry to innovate under these harsh conditions is now helping solve ongoing issues of water supply in remote Indigenous communities.
The brine problem
Every desalination process concentrates the salt it removes into a waste stream. On the coast, that brine can go back to the ocean. Inland, options are far fewer.
“Inland communities either hold desalination waste in ponds, or truck it a long way for disposal,” said CSIRO research team leader and senior water research scientist, Dr Ramesh Thiruvenkatachari.
“Reducing the brine volume from these plants delivers both an environmental and an economic benefit.”
CSIRO-developed technology directly targets this issue and uses a thermal membrane, tested through the Australian Coal Association Research Program on coal mine brines and acidic mine water. It has now moved from the laboratory to pilot and prototype units.
Tags
- Industrial Water Managment
- Research
- Mining Development
- Mine Water Management
- Mining And Metal Industry Effluents
- Oil-associated Waters And Brines
- Australia