Since establishing the Water in Mining series, our regular research and engagement with the industry has highlighted a need for more collaboration and knowledge sharing around water sourcing, water treatment/quality and overall water strategy and management.
To answer this need, we are establishing the Water in Mining Community to build on the annual, flagship event: Water in Mining Global Summit.
Through the community we will provide a quarterly newsletter to share best practice, case studies and success stories. As well as the newsletter, there will be short virtual events/ webinars to provide additional touch points throughout the year on topics including: desalination, stewardship, legacy mines, and more.
Hear from the Climate Resilience panel at Water in Mining 2022
How might you mitigate risk through optimising control of water balance and what kind of data does the mining industry need to close these gaps for water balance, especially when forecasting under climate change?
Hear from Sandy Fabritz-Witney, Director of Water Strategy from Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, Nassem Vahed, Senior Engineer Water Management from Anglo America Platinum and José N. De Piérola C, Senior Advisor in Mining Water Resources Management at Southern Peru Copper Corp as they discuss this question.
Want to hear the full Q&A? You can still rent or buy access to all the presentations and panel discussions across the two days here.
Letters from the 2022 chairs:
The 2022 Water in Mining Global Summit brought 166 mining, government, researcher, and stakeholder practitioners from 20 countries together for two inspiring and simultaneously sobering days of discussion focused on identifying needs, knowledge gaps, challenges, and opportunities to improve mining water use and management. As the world comes to grips with growing competing demands for ever shrinking available freshwater supplies, under increasingly uncertain climate change induced water delivery patterns, mining is seeking to develop real solutions that are sustainable. First, I want to say thank you to all the participants for their willingness to share frankly, listen to each other and participate in meaningful discussion in a profoundly collaborative manner.
As Blair Douglas, plenary speaker on Day 1 noted, “over ½ the worlds mines will close in the next 20 years” going on to emphasize the need to start the critical work now on science-based water targets, as well as organizational cultural shifts in valuation, planning and R&D to decrease risks to operations, communities, and regional catchments. These ideas were echoed by many speakers and panelists throughout the Summit, illuminating the need for a seismic change in thinking across the ESG risks platform and highlighting the urgent need to invest resources to develop knowledge baselines, as well as new technologies, decision making frameworks and evidence-based policies within regional integrated contexts in collaborative partnership, to ensure our finite freshwater resources are stewarded effectively. Overwhelming commitment to continue the conversation and share learnings to accelerate real solutions generation underscore the exciting discussions that will continue at the next WIM Global Summit. I hope to see you there!
Lesley Warren, Director, Lassonde Institute of Mining - University of Toronto
"Water is a shared resource, and a salient human right, and it is absolutely critical that we understand water-related impacts and risks, as well as identify opportunities to protect and conserve water around the globe. The Water in Mining Global Summit was an excellent opportunity to connect with global leaders to discuss challenges, as well as solutions, related to this critical issue.
The event provided a forum for shared learnings and, in the session I chaired on Water in Legacy Mining, we were able to explore historical issues and outcomes, with a view to incorporating these shared learnings into current operations and future planning to reduce the potential for long-term impacts.
Feedback I received indicated that attendees appreciated the different perspectives presented, and came away from the session, and the overall conference, with greater understanding and motivation to advance improvements in water management and conservation. I must also add that the conference was extremely well-organized, and the mix of presentations and workshops addressed many of the top existing and emerging risks in managing water in the mining industry."
Linda Wrong, Global General Manager, Corporate Environment, Glencore International