The importance of water management
Water dust suppression at Dampier port. Image: Department of Water WA. BY ELIZABETH FABRI AUSTRALIA is one of the driest continents in the world, and mining is thirsty business. In remote areas of the country water can be both scarce and overabundant, forcing mining operations to continually advance water management strategies and technologies to secure supply, minimise environmental footprint, and ride through extreme weather events such as cyclones, flooding, and droughts. Water management in mining is a hot topic in all mining jurisdictions across the country. During 2014-15, an estimated 76,140 gigalitres (GL) of water was extracted to support the Australian economy, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Of this amount, 768GL or 4.4 per cent was from…