ICMM Presents 'Water Management in Mining: a Selection of Case Studies'

(3BL Media) June 8, 2012 - Today, at the '3rd International Congress on Water Management in the Mining Industry - Water in Mining 2012', Chile, ICMM's Gemma James presented ICMM's newest publication: 'Water management in mining: a selection of case studies'which illustrates some of the innovative ways the industry has responded to water challenges in different contexts.

This presentation was followed by three representatives from ICMM member companies who discussed three of the case studies in depth:

• Yuri Zepeda, Head of the Metallurgy Department at Lomas Bayas, Xstrata
• Fiona Wild, Senior Manager Environment and Climate Change, BHP Billiton
• Paulino Velazquez, Environment Team, Cerro Vanguardia, AngloGold Ashanti

The above ICMM member companies explored the particular challenges each of their sites faced with regards to water conditions. They focused on the activities that showcased their solutions as good practice for the industry.

Lomas Bayas (Xstrata), the Olympic Dam in Australia (BHP Billiton) and Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina (AngloGold Ashanti) are three examples of how the challenges for each mining site are different.

As explained by ICMM's President Anthony Hodge, "These characteristics lead to tough challenges and there is no simple recipe for water management in mining particularly because the local environments of mines range from extremely low to the highest rainfall areas in the world."

ICMM members are committed to the responsible management of water as a key ingredient to ensuring that their contribution to sustainable development is a positive one.

To download theICMM's new publication 'Water management in mining: a selection of case studies', please visit: http://www.icmm.com/www.icmm.com/water-case-studies