Skimping on Water in a Desert May Come Back to Haunt Miners
- Desalination plants among projects cut after metal price slump
- Chile water use is world’s most costly with pipes to the sea
The copper mine in in Chuquicamata, Chile.
Photographer: Francois LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
In the high desert mountains of Chile, home to some of the world’s biggest copper deposits, mine owners have cut investment in one resource they can’t live without: water.
Billions of gallons are needed to extract mineral from dirt that contains less than 1 percent copper. State-owned Codelco used enough water last year to fill London’s Wembley Stadium 44 times, and an increasing amount is being piped from the Pacific to mines more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) above sea level.