Sustainability website / Case Studies 2003 / Xstrata copper / Water Recycling at Mount Isa

Water Recycling at Mount Isa

To achieve a reduction in fresh water consumption at Mount Isa, operating departments nominated a fresh water conservation ‘champion’ accountable for driving fresh water conservation initiatives throughout their department.

Some of the major initiatives were:

• the Mount Isa Lead and Copper mines have progressively replaced fresh water with recycled and aquifer inflow water reducing daily fresh water demand by 1.5-2 ML;
• George Fisher and Hilton underground mining operations have reduced fresh water consumption by between 2-2.5 ML/day by using recycled water;
• changes to the reagent addition quantities have allowed a fresh water reduction in the zinc and lead cleaner banks in the Lead Zinc Concentrator from 5.2 ML/day to 1.7 ML/day;
• capturing and reusing the Acid Plant's blowdown water has reduced fresh water usage by around 1 ML/day;
• the capture of Mica Creek Power Station blowdown and wastewater for road dust suppression and slag cooling saves between 1-1.5 ML of fresh water per day; and
• reviewing and updating the water metering system has greatly reduced the quantity of unaccounted water use and improved the reported usage for each department.

Through the promotion of fresh water awareness and the implementation of conservation initiatives, the programme has reduced department water consumption by over 40% from 24 ML a day to 14 ML a day since April 2002, with 80% of that reduction occurring in 2003.