Mine Water Use, Treatment, and Reuse in the United States: A Look at Current Industry Practices and Select Case Studies

Kaleisha D. Miller, Matthew J. Bentley, Joseph N. Ryan, Karl G. Linden, Caleb Larison, Benjamin A. Kienzle, Lynn E. Katz, Alana M. Wilson, Jordan T. Cox, Parthiv Kurup, Kurt M. Van Allsburg, James McCall, Jordan E. Macknick, Michael S. Talmadge, Ariel Miara, Kurban A. Sitterley, Anna Evans, Kiran Thirumaran, Mini Malhotra, Susana Garcia GonzalezJennifer R. Stokes-Draut, Shankararaman Chellam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mining provides significant economic value while often impacting local water supplies and environments because of freshwater usage and waste disposal practices. This study identifies current practices in mine water, including how water is used in mining, influent and effluent water quality, treatment technologies, and end uses with the goal of informing future research on implementable, reliable, and cost-effective advanced water treatment in the mining sector. This study also reviews the available literature to broadly evaluate mining in the United States and performs a techno-economic assessment on water use and disposal for three detailed case studies applicable to lithium, uranium, and copper mines. These case studies highlight specific industry examples of distinct extraction methods, geographical regions, and mined commodities. Hypothetical scenarios based on case study baselines revealed potential impacts to mine water available for beneficial reuse through the use of novel water treatment technologies and alternate water management strategies. Finally, an assessment of national level impacts resulting from the reuse of treated mine source water is presented.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)391-408
Number of pages18
JournalACS ES and T Engineering
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 11 2022

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, Advanced Manufacturing Office under Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001905. This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

Keywords

  • heap leaching
  • lithium
  • mining water
  • techno-economic analysis
  • uranium

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Mine Water Use, Treatment, and Reuse in the United States: A Look at Current Industry Practices and Select Case Studies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this