Reutilization of treated waste water

Challenge the practice is addressing: Cobre Las Cruces’ (CLC) owns a mining site where a part of the water supply needed for the mineral processing is covered with treated wastewater from the public water supply and treatment company.

Concrete practice to achieve the expected goal: Waste water from the sewage plant is cleaned with physical and chemical treatment measures to provide the mining site with water quality suitable for mineral processing. Rest of the water is pumped to a wastewater regenerating facility on the mining site. There the wastewater is purified with chlorination and ultrafiltration treatments to minimise the environmental impacts, and is then deep injected to the groundwater.

Expected impact/goal of the practice: The practice provides a good example of successful collaboration between a wastewater treatment plant company and a mining/mineral processing company.

Who is the target user group of the practice/intervention or implementing the practice/intervention? The target group of the practice is the extractive industry.