Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Sharing the benefits from water as a new approach to regional water targets for mining companies

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Kunz, N.
    Moran, Chris
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Kunz, N. and Moran, C. 2014. Sharing the benefits from water as a new approach to regional water targets for mining companies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 84 (1): pp. 469-474.
    Source Title
    Journal of Cleaner Production
    DOI
    10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.053
    ISSN
    0959-6526
    School
    Office of Research and Development
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/39202
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Most major mining companies have articulated strategies and targets to minimise the impacts of operations on surface and groundwater resources. However, the focus tends to be on mitigating negative impacts. In this field note, we make two contributions to assist mining sites in playing a positive role in implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) aspirations. First, we introduce the notion of "water benefits" as a pathway for operationalizing regional IWRM objectives at a mine site level. Second, we propose a decision making framework to facilitate investment in water benefits. The framework comprises of five steps: (1) Select system boundary wherein benefits are to be delivered; (2) Quantify water availability; (3) Determine potential benefits; (4) Identify acceptable benefits; and (5) Implementation and monitoring. For a site to deliver water benefits that extend beyond the legal obligation of the company, we contend that there must be a sound business case. We therefore distinguish between steps that should be decided by the business (steps 1, 2 and 4) from those that should be completed in collaboration with the broader community (steps 3 and 5). Within this field note we do not test the practical utility of the framework in an empirical setting and as such it is not intended to be prescriptive. Rather, we seek to provide a foundation for scholarly/industry debate about how decision makers at a mine site level could take a more active role in contributing towards IWRM aspirations. We conclude that a "water benefits" perspective offers a novel basis for establishing regional water targets and could serve numerous advantages at a site-level including improved recognition about the value of water and improved understanding and mitigation of strategic water-related risks.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Developing completion criteria for rehabilitation areas on arid and semi-arid mine sites in Western Australia
      Brearley, Darren (2003)
      Continued expansion of the gold and nickel mining industry in Western Australia during recent years has led to disturbance of larger areas and the generation of increasing volumes of waste rock. Mine operators are obligated ...
    • Mine infrastructure maintenance
      Kumar, U.; Knights, P.; Kuruppu, Mahinda (2011)
      This Chapter is about maintenance of mine infrastructure so that a mine can safely and economically operate at or above design capacity without unscheduled stoppages or disturbances. Mine infrastructure refers to major ...
    • Rate controls on the chemical weathering of natural polymineralic material. II. Rate-controlling mechanisms and mineral sources and sinks for element release from four UK mine sites, and implications for comparison of laboratory and field scale weathering studies
      Evans, Katy; Watkins, D.; Banwart, S. (2006)
      Predictions of mine-related water pollution are often based on laboratory assays of mine-site material. However, many of the factors that control the rate of element release from a site, such as pH, water-rock ratio, the ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.