A statistical analytical method to assess the potential for worked water sharing between mines

Water allocation regulation and policies are based on assessment of fresh water transfers. Similarly, methods to value water include only consideration of fresh water. However, in regions where there is significant industrial activity, such as mining, it is possible that transfer of water between mines could occur. There is currently little government or company policy support for such transfers. Indeed, without government support via incentives it is likely that mines would favour fresh water use because it is inexpensive and creates few risks for production thereby limiting its availability for other uses. The opportunity provided by water savings could be viewed as a source of money to provide incentive for transfer of mine site water (worked water) between mines. In this paper, a method is presented to compute the amount of water potentially available for transfer between mines based on a site water balance assessment using historical climate data. This approach takes into account climate variability, and a mine site water systems model. An analogue of a water trading system is used to determine the potential for exchange of excess water from wetter to dryer sites. It is demonstrated that 340ML could be transferred per year with an unmet need for worked water of 11100 ML per year. The value of the water that could be transferred, if applied to coal mining would be significant. Irrigation may also be attractive if available infrastructure can be used to trade the saved fresh water in existing markets. This indicates that worked water could have significant value if regulated but this requires infrastructure to support transfers of both the worked water and the freshwater saved.