the International Council on Mining and Metallurgy (ICMM) It has released a new report showing that 65.7% of mining and mineral facilities worldwide are located in areas facing significant water risks.
The report and dataset are available on ICMM Websitecollected data from 12,000 facilities in 148 countries. Other key findings include that 38.2% of facilities in the watershed have high baseline water stress, 27% are at high drought risk and 14% operate in areas of high flood risk.
The dataset also showed that exposure to water hazards is not evenly distributed. In Chile, for example, 85.8% of facilities face high baseline water stress – more than double the global average. Data from Africa and the Middle East showed similar results.
Starting point
Water scarcity can slow down mineral processing because many extraction steps such as crushing, flotation, filtration and tailings management rely on a constant water supply.
In the report, ICMM says that with increasing demand for minerals and metals to support the energy transition, understanding water risks is essential.
“If water risk exposure is not better understood and managed across the wider economy, we risk sleepwalking into a major barrier to the energy transition,” said Emma Gaggin, Director of Data and Research at ICMM. She added that the mining industry needs to adopt better supervisory principles. “This dataset is a starting point for others to explore, use and collaborate with us to further improve the collective picture of water risk across the industry.”
“Responsible mining starts with shared access to reliable, publicly available data on where water risks are greatest,” said Crystal Davis, Global Director of Food, Land, and Water Programs at the World Resources Institute.
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