Use of Seawater in Copper Mines in Chile:

Challenges and Opportunities

Rubn Muoz1, Macarena Terroba2, and Jos Adriasola3
1. Technical Solutions, IDE Technologies, Chile
2. Copper Center of Excellence, Bechtel, Chile
3. Hydraulics and Hydrology, Bechtel, Chile

ABSTRACT
Fresh water is an essential input in copper ore processing plants. It is typically obtained from natural
sources, such as rivers, reservoirs and groundwater aquifers (generally denominated continental
waters), located in the areas surrounding the mine site. However, conflicts with other users have
been increasing during the last several years and, in parallel, environmental regulations have been
changing in order to prioritize human consumption and agricultural irrigation. Furthermore, at the
present time special emphasis has been placed on protecting surface and underground water bodies,
and in promoting sustainable use.
At the same time that access to continental water for use in copper ore processing plants is being
significantly reduced, Chilean copper production is expected to increase in the medium and long
term. As a result, fresh water has become a critical and strategic input for numerous copper mines in
Chile over the last years, especially for those located in areas with severe continental waters scarcity.
Currently, there is a clear and logical trend in the industry to use seawater instead of continental
waters, since the former represents a very stable source in terms of quantity and quality, with fewer
environmental constraints and conflicting consumers.
This paper discusses three aspects related with seawater consumption in the copper mining industry:
quantity & quality, physical and chemical seawater treatment, and intake and conveyance
infrastructure. These topics are crucial in order to confront significant challenges and understand
how to take advantage of some opportunities in the near future. Both technical and business aspects
are offered to the reader.

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INTRODUCTION

Mining is an important economic activity in Latin America. The exploitation of metallic minerals such
as iron, silver, gold and copper, among others, position the region as one of the major global suppliers
of these raw materials. Sufficient to note that in 2012 the exploitation of mineral represented 7% of
gross domestic product (GDP) of Latin America (ECLAC, 2013), in 2013, a 6% (ECLAC, 2014) and in
2014 again by 6% (ECLAC , 2015).
While use of surface and underground water tends to decline and increasingly restricted, projections
of production in mining - and therefore consumption of fresh water - are increasing. Thus, currently
the fresh water supply for mining industry represents a particular risk for secure water resources for
the operations and new developments, especially for many mining facilities located in areas with
water shortages. Definitely, the current strategy in such cases is to remove the sources of fresh water
and replace them with a reliable, unlimited and competitors source: the seawater.
Since mining in general and its processes constitute a broad topic, the focus of this article will focus
on copper mining. This is because in Latin America, six countries currently produce, overall, 48% of
copper globally, and over the next 10 years, this percentage could exceed 60% (Cochilco, 2014).
Following the order of magnitude of their production, these countries are: Chile, Peru, Mexico,
Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador (Cochilco, 2014).
This article describes three specific water issues are addressed in copper mining, which are
considered key to meet the challenges and opportunities in the near future:
Quantity and quality of fresh water
Fitness seawater for use as fresh water
Infrastructure for collection and transport of fresh water

DISCUSSION

Quantity and quality of fresh water

With regard to fresh water consumption per ton of processed copper ore, there has been a downward
trend in copper concentrators and plants leaching (hydrometallurgy) in Chile (Cochilco, 2015). This
reduction in the unit consumption should mainly to operational improvements implemented in
different processes, especially in the thickening and tailings disposal, who have managed to
significantly increase the efficiency of recovery and reuse of water.
As an example, Figure 2 shows the evolution in recent years and the future projection of the total
amount of fresh water demand by plants producing copper in Chile, along with the proportional
contribution of inland water and seawater (Cochilco, 2015). The projection includes both new projects
and existing operations
Figure 1 shows the evolution of this variable in recent years.

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 Figure 1 Chilean Mining Unitary Consumption Fresh Water Consumption (COCHILCO, 2015)

Figure 2 Make up Fresh Water Consumption in Chilean Mining (COCHILCO, 2015)

In relation to the amount of water, some of the main challenges and opportunities presented to the
community around copper mining are:
Implementation of new technologies for final tailings disposal (eg filtering paste tailings
and tailings)
Use of surface water reservoirs coverage to minimize evaporation losses
Treatment and reuse of water disposal (eg, gray water generated in the camps and
permanent installations) (Gross et al., 2015)
Use of rainwater
Use of treated effluent from other industries (eg treated domestic sewage)
Continuous measurement of water consumption in different production areas, so as to
establish baselines and targets for reducing water consumption
In general terms and as an example, Figure 3 (Bechtel, own development) shows the overall balance
of water from a copper concentrator plant 100,000 ton/day processing capacity, with a net water
consumption of 0.53 m / ton. As can be seen, between 30 and 40% of total consumption required

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quality fresh water and mainly used as seal water, cooling water, preparation of reagents and water.
The surplus is used as makeup water and added to the recovered water to return to the process.

EJEMPLO BALANCE GLOBAL DE AGUA - PLANTA CONCENTRADORA

Agua Repos i ci n
49 529 m3/da PISCINA AGUA 34 858 m3/da
AGUA FRESCA

211 046 m3/da PISCINA AGUA 28 006 m3/da Agua Recuperada

94%
14 672 m3/da DE PROCESOS 35% recupera ci n de Tranque Relaves

MINERAL 100 000 ton/da 148 182 m3/da

3 000 m3/da
3% humeda d

97 800 ton/da 97 800 ton/da DEPOSITO DE

228 200 m3/da 80 018 m3/da RELAVES
30% s l i dos ESPESAMIENTO 55% s l i dos
PLANTA CONCENTRADORA DE RELAVES

3
Prdidas 300 m /da
2 200 ton/da
3 CONCENTRADO CONSUMO NETO DE AGUA = 0.53 m/ton
218 m /da
9% humeda d

Figure 3 Global Water Balance Cupper Concentration plant (Bechtel, own elaboration)

Regarding the physicochemical quality of the fresh water, the fundamental concept is that the
makeup water does not produce negative impact on the recovery of copper and molybdenum (if
applicable), which is the main objective of the process. This becomes particularly relevant when
deciding whether use seawater or desalinated water, and the scenario of using desalinated water, the
key factor is to optimize plant configuration that allow to minimize investment costs (CAPEX) and
operating (OPEX).
Table 1 (Bechtel, own development) shows a benchmarking of physicochemical quality of process
water (PW) and desalinated water (Desai-W) which is currently used in several production plants
copper in Chile, called " Ref.1 "a" Ref.8 ". In addition, the average typical continental water quality
(called "Agua Fresca") and the typical average quality natural seawater (called "Seawater") is shown.
It is noted that the desalinated water has similar characteristics to fresh water continental in most of
the contents of ions, except in relation to dissolved solids and sulfate, while the process water sample,
as expected, a higher concentration in ion content and dissolved solids. Finally, the untreated
seawater shows high contents of chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium and dissolved solids.
The analysis of use of seawater in the flotation of copper and molybdenum, have shown the following
effects (Castro, 2013):
Seawater is able to decrease the size of the bubble, replacing in part the role of frother
in the use of sea water creates a buffer effect, therefore, for pyrite depression using
additional specific reagents required
The recovery of copper in the flotation circuit may experience a decrease of 1 to 2
percentage points comparing to the use of standard water for processes (similar to
desalinated quality) (Figure 4)

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 The recovery of molybdenum in the flotation circuit may experience reductions ranging
from 2 to 30 percentage points comparing to the standard water processes depending on
the pH used in the flotation (Figure 4)

Table 1 Benchmarking Water Quality used in mine cupper process (Bechtel, own development)

Figure 4 Variation of Cu y Mo recovery versus pH seawater usage vs desalinated/fresh water usage

(Adapted from Castro, 2013, with permission)

Observations from recent projects (Veki, 2013) confirm the decreased molybdenum recovery as
shown in the figure above, when seawater quality is used. As a result, desalinated water use is an
option that guarantees there will be no negative impacts on mineral production.
Regarding water quality, primary challenges and opportunities include:
Optimizing seawater treatment to obtain a product similar to standard industrial water, without
sacrificing efficiency in copper and molybdenum recoveries
Managing corrosion in both transportation systems and plant infrastructure that come into contact
with seawater

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Seawater usage
In comparison to other industries, seawater usage in copper mining is relatively new. Its corrosive
properties negatively affect elements in carbon steel. When using seawater, multiple measures must
be taken to control corrosion in order to achieve the operating and maintenance costs estimated in
the design stage.
In many cases, the use of chemical products to prevent corrosion is the best way to counteract this
problem.
However, these products present limitations when seawater is transported over long distances.
During operation of long-distance pipelines, a deterioration in the quality of the water received in
the mineral process plant (at mine site) has been observed, with a greater concentration of corrosion
byproducts, such as iron. In addition, there are phenomena such as localized corrosion and microbial
corrosion. As a result, the pipelines interior walls become rougher and this leads to an increase in
power consumption in the pumping systems
Principally, seawater treatment must be capable of removing suspended solids, inactivating bacteria
y reducing potential corrosion. Furthermore, it must be considered that the flow velocity is directly
proportional to the wear rate due to the erosion-corrosion phenomena (Lienenweber et al., 2016a
and 2016b). The treatment recommended by NACE (2012) to reduce the corrosive potential of
seawater consists of removing dissolved oxygen and inactivating the bacteria responsible for
corrosion. As a result, the corrosion rate could be limited to a maximum of 20 mil per year (1 mil =
0.0254 mm), but this process is extremely expensive.
Among the numerous choices that must be made, the decision to use or not use internal coating in
the carbon steel pipes is crucial. This is linked to research of the erosion / corrosion process in
pressurized piping for seawater. Current state of the art is insufficient to provide conclusive answers
regarding the erosion/ corrosion process in different carbon steel qualities, transporting different
seawater properties and under distinct hydraulic conditions. Therefore, this presents a clear
challenge for applied research. Sharing information and experience, and creating opportunities for
collaboration between mining companies and the academic world will help to advance this research.

Desalination
The seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) process is a proven technology that recently has managed to
reduce desalinated water production costs to less than USD 0.57/m, see table below from
(Voutchkov, 2013). The process primarily consists of pre-treatment, reverse osmosis and post-
treatment. Depending on the quality of the seawater at source, pre-treatment consists of some or all
of the following processes: coarse screening, chlorination, clarification, coagulation, flocculation and
filtration. In the presence of harmful algal bloom (red tide) and severe proliferation of algae,
treatment could include a dissolved air flotation (DAF) process. However, the requirement of this
process must be analyzed in detail in accordance with the sites conditions and seawater quality
records.
When seawater quality is below normal conditions, with low suspended solids, proper treatment
only requires flocculation, coagulation and filtration with minimal or no chemical products.
The seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) process receives pre-treated water and delivers it to a group
of modules working in parallel. Each module has a high-pressure pump, a circulation pump, an
energy recovery devices and a reverse osmosis train that has pressurized vessels with membranes
elements. The saline concentrate resulting from the SWRO process has high pressure and higher

6
salinity. By using an isobaric energy recovery system and a circulation pump, the residual pressure
can be passed to the osmosis trains feed manifold. Following energy recovery, the saline concentrate
is returned to the sea, where its high salinity is diluted by means of diffusors.
Finally, the desalinated water is transported to the re-mineralization process, where its quality must
be adapted to what is required for the infrastructure coming into contact with the water and the end
users. Figure 5 depicts the Sorek facility, one of the worlds largest desalination plants.

Figure 5 Sorek Desalination Plant, Israel, Courtesy of IDE Technologies

The key economic parameters of an SWRO plant are capital and Operational & Maintenance (O&M)
cost, which together determine the cost of water US$/m3. Table 2 illustrates the lowest desalinated
water cost worldwide (Voutchkov, 2013). All the projects in the table were implemented under Built
Own Operate and transfer (BOO/BOOT) contract model, which reach the lowest costing resulting
from customized and optimized process configuration.
With respect to seawater treatment systems, opportunities for cost reduction include:
Minimizing power consumption by utilizing new technologies and production strategies
Creating synergies with other industrial facilities near the coast such as power plants
Developing clean technology solutions that permit eliminating chemicals in desalination and
enable an operation with increased availability and minimize marine impact on the environment

Intake infrastructure and fresh water transportation

Seawater intake infrastructures are expensive. For various reasons, owners prefer to build maritime
works that cover long-term requirements. Depending on each sites characteristics, the challenge is
to find the lowest total installed cost configuration for intake, transportation to SWRO and discharge
of the saline concentrate. In addition to requiring technical experts, this entails the involvement of
constructability and cost estimating experts during study stages to ensure that the best alternative is
executed.

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Table 2 Recent Lowest Cost SWRO Projects. Source: adapted from (Voutchkov, 2013)

Cost of
Desalinated
SWRO Plant Water Energy consumption

(US$/m) (kWh/m)

Sorek, Israel 624,000 m3/d 0,53 3,2-3,7

Mactaa, Algeria 550,000 m3/d 0,56 3,7

Hadera, Israel 470,000 m3/d 0,57 3,2-3,7

Cap Djinet, Algeria 100,000 m3/d 0,72 4

Carlsbad, USA 200,000 m3/d 0,74 2,9

CONCLUSION
The main challenge of seawater supply to the mining industry is to reduce and minimized the impact
on mineral recovery as well as identify clearly the impacts on the integral projects, such as seawater
transport, process plant equipment materials, tailings, thickening, etc. This article presented the main
implications due to seawater quality is in the molybdenum recovery, which might be negatively
affected; the main opportunities in this aspect is into adapt the seawater quality in order to minimize
this effect. On the other hand, the main challenge of the desalination industry is to continuous
innovating to decrease capital and operational cost; where the options of water purchase under
contract models of BOO/BOT might offers the right opportunities to minimize the risk of operation
and avoid investment in non-mineral production infrastructure.

REFERENCES
Castro, S. (2013) Avances tecnolgicos en flotacin de minerales, FLSmidth Flotation Seminar, May 23-24,
2013, Via del Mar, Chile.
Brusilovsky, M. (2009) Challenging the Technologies for Sustainable Desalination Solutions, III Conferencia
Asocisin latinamericana de Desalacin y Reuse (Aladyr).
Cochilco (2015) Proyeccin del consumo de agua en la minera del cobre al 2026, Chilean Copper
Commission (Cochilco), Ministry of Mining, Chilean Government.
Lienenweber, G., Cceres, L. and Bustamante, P. (2016a), Corrosion Behavior of API5LX65 Steel in
Seawater, Piping for Northern Chiles Mining Industry. Hydroprocess 2016 | 8th International
Seminar on Process Hydrometallurgy, June 15-17, 2016, Santiago, Chile.
Lienenweber, G., Cceres, L. and Bustamante, P. (2016b), Corrosion Studies for Carbon Steel Pipe API 5L
X70 Exposed to Sea Water at High Fluid Velocities, XXVIII International Mineral Processing Congress,
September 11-15, 2016, Qubec, Canada.

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NACE (2012) Standard Practice: Corrosion Control and Monitoring in Seawater Injection Systems. National
Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), SP0499-2012.
Veki, L. (2013) The use of seawater as process water in concentration plant and the effects on the flotation
performance of Cu-Mo, Thesis for Masters degree in Process Engineering, University of Oulu, Faculty
of Technology, Finland.
Voutchkov, N. (2013) Cost Estimation of SWRO desalination plants, The Middle East Desalination
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