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Copper and Lithium Giant Squeezing Water Rights for Miners
By
Laura Millan Lombrana
,
‎21‎ ‎February‎ ‎2019‎ ‎5‎:‎00‎ ‎PM

• Officials plan to more than double number of prohibited zones
• BHP and Antofagasta have requested water-rights extensions

The world’s largest copper producer is planning to implement measures that will make it more difficult for miners to pump fresh water.
Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg

Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg
In a belated response to falling fresh-water levels in desert areas, Chile is moving to protect a natural resource that has been depleted after decades of mining activity.


With complaints from local communities rising and the effects of climate change worsening, the world’s largest copper producer is planning to implement measures that will make it more difficult for miners to pump fresh water.




Chile’s water authority DGA will more than double the number of so-called prohibition areas across the country this year to at least 70 from 30, according to general director Oscar Cristi. No new licenses can be awarded within prohibition zones and any extension to existing permits will need to be approved by environmental authorities.



“There are mining areas that will fall within new prohibition areas,” Cristi said, declining to identify the areas to avoid possible speculation around water rights. “In some places, mining companies are allowed to pump more than is flowing into the basin, and that’s threatening the sustainability of the water systems.”



Chile’s Atacama desert in the country’s north, the driest place on Earth, hosts some of the planet’s largest copper and lithium mines. While it’s occasionally hit by heavy rains and floods, the region has become drier over the last few decades, according to the DGA. At the same time, mining companies’ demand for water is expected to soar as ore grades decline, forcing them to process more material to maintain production levels.

In response, miners are building large desalination plants, and seawater use is expected to more than triple through 2029, according to the latest forecast from Chile’s copper commission, Cochilco. Despite that, use of ground water at the country’s giant mines still is set to increase 12 percent through 2029, Cochilco said.
The DGA’s plan to boost water-protection areas is part of a larger overhaul in Chile that includes conducting independent studies to determine water levels in 10 different basins. At the moment, the agency depends on the information in company reports when awarding water rights.