The use of seawater in mining

ABSTRACT

This article reviews the use of seawater in mining with an emphasis on its use in Chile. The importance of the use of seawater in mining is highlighted in the introduction, then the main characteristics of seawater are reviewed, especially its potential effects on its use in mining. Subsequently, the consumption of seawater in Chile, especially in the regions located in the Atacama Desert, is analyzed based on statistics developed by Cochilco (Chilean Copper Commission). Later, the alternatives for the use of seawater and the distribution system are considered. The effect of seawater on the sulfide minerals flotation, the sulfide copper minerals leaching, and Caliche leaching is analyzed. We can conclude that the use of seawater has been increasing in Chile, which is already a reality, but there are challenges and opportunities that arise from the need to use seawater as a water resource.

KEYWORDS:

• Seawater
• mining
• flotation
• leaching
• desalination

Funding

The authors thank CONICYT and the Regional Government of Antofagasta for their funding through the PAI program, Project Anillo ACT 1,201. L.A.C. thanks INNOVA CORFO Projects Csiro Chile 10CEII-9007.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1. A useful representation of aridity is the aridity index: (P/ETP, where P is the precipitation and ETP is the potential evapotranspiration). Of the total land area of the world, the hyper-arid zone (arid index <0.03, annual rainfall <100 mm) covers 4.2 percent, the arid zone (arid index 0.03–0.20, annual rainfall 100 – 300 mm) 14.6 percent, and the semiarid zone (arid index 0.2–0.5, annual rainfall 300–800 mm) 12.2 percent. Therefore, almost one-third of the total area of the world is arid land (FAO, 1989).

2. Chile total electric demand is 67,564 MW h and an additional 22,508 MW h will be needed by 2020 to meet the energy demand of industrial projects. The Chilean mining industry uses one third of total consumption. As of the end of 2014, a solar capacity of 2,384 MW is operational and under construction, and more than 10,000 MW of solar power plants have been proposed (Grágeda et al., 2016).

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank CONICYT and the Regional Government of Antofagasta for their funding through the PAI program, Project Anillo ACT 1,201. L.A.C. thanks INNOVA CORFO Projects Csiro Chile 10CEII-9007.