Securing water sustainability in the mining industry

UN global goal 6 aims to ensure clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.

It is forecast that South Africa will have a 17% gap in the supply of potable (drinking) water by 2030. Already, more than three-million South Africans do not have access to a basic water supply, and more than 14-million do not have access to safe sanitation.

At the same time, South Africa’s National Water Resources Strategy 2 estimates that the mining industry consumes approximately 5% of the country’s water. The UN global goals are a major focus for miners, and they are beginning to invest in total water management solutions that will support the delivery of:

• Cost-savings
• De-risking operations
• Health and safety (communities and employees alike)
• Operational efficiencies
• Regulatory compliance
• Water independence

And AECI Water is helping them. Among the business’ value-adding interventions are the following:

• Water discharge quality regulations (compliance)
• Water quality standards for non-potable applications
• Water recycling and re-use

One of AECI Water’s five-year goals is to reduce and/or replace more than two-billion litres of potable water used in the mining industry’s process streams. Several impressive successes have already been recorded and many more are in the pipeline.

Platinum Mine – 1-billion Litres of Water a Year

Proprietary desalination technology upgraded underground fissure water to potable water quality, replacing 1-billion litres of potable water a year.

Gold Mine – 1-billion Litres of Water a Year/Net Cost Saving of R25-million

Proprietary scale control technology made it possible to safely use mine process water in high temperature cooling systems.

Prior to the intervention, there were concerns that the process water would affect equipment integrity. This was due to a generally inferior quality compared to the municipal source and a high concentration of dissolved salts.

Deep Level Gold Mine – 475-million Litres of Water a Year/Net Cost Saving of 20%

Proprietary technology treated process water to potable water quality, suitable for human consumption. Phase 2 will deliver a further saving of 1,2-billion litres of potable water a year.

Gold Processing Plant – 300-million Litres of Water a Year/Net Cost Saving of at Least 10%

Proprietary technology treated dam water to potable water quality for use in diverse plant processes. The benefits included improved gold recovery and reduced fouling.

Strategic partnerships have also been completed in the DRC and Mozambique and a number are in progress on the rest of the African continent.

This is One AECI, for a better world.

Purpose is at the core of One AECI, for a better world. The company’s vision is to deliver sustainable solutions for a better world through excellence and innovation founded on “good chemistry”. Key focus areas, aligned with carefully selected UN global goals, are Better Mining, Better Water, Better Food Systems and Better Chemistry.

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