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Climate change has been caused by several different factors. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 8 to 10 percent of all man made methane emissions are a result of coal mining [1]. Other forms of mining would only cause this number to increase. It would be safe to say that mining has been a significant contributor to climate change.<\/p>\n
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Now lets look at the impacts of climate change. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: \u201cContinued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts\u201d [2]. Not surprisingly one of these \u201cpervasive\u201d impacts is that if we continue on our current trajectory we will only have 60% of the water we need by 2030 [3]. Funnily enough mining is a water intensive activity. For instance in 2006 the copper mining industry alone used 1.3 billion cubic meters of water [4].<\/p>\n
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So when the Financial Times says, \u201cthe [mining] industry\u2019s spending on water has increased from $3.4 billion in 2009 to nearly $10 billion in 2013\u201d it is hard to shed a tear [5]. In fact turning to BHP Billiton\u2019s (one of the largest mining companies in the world) 2015 Sustainability Report we can see that 85% of its water input was from water that is not drinkable. A significant amount, 30%, of the water was seawater [6]. Looking at the Sustaibility Reports of other mining companies it is the same story. How have they done this?<\/p>\n
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Using Water Efficiently<\/strong><\/p>\n