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Chapter 4.3Mining and water resource:
Mining and its associated activities not only use a lot of water but also affect the hydrologicalregime of an area. The major impact in case of a large and deep opencast mine is if thegroundwater table is breached, which adversely affects the availability of water to thesurrounding area. Depending on the local hydrological condition; the dewatering can be of therange from 5000 m
3
/day to 20000 m
3
/day.
1
The dewatering of water has huge impact on thegroundwater regime; the zone of depression that is caused by dewatering may vary from fewhundred to about 2.5 sq km
2
.Other than affecting the hydrological profile of a region, the mining industrycan also adversely affect the water qualityof a region through run off significantlyincreasing the sediment load of receivingmedium. Extraction of different mineralsis know to lead to pollution due to heavymetals, acid formation, increasedsuspended solids, etc.Water use in mining operation per se is not much, especially for the extraction process. It ismainly used up for ancillary activities such dust suppression - including spraying on haul roads,conveyors, waste dumps, loading and unloading points – plantation and domestic consumption.For instance – according to EIA report of Gare IV/6 open cast coal mine of Jindal power and steelin Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh– mining activities would consume around 446 m
3
of water per day and would generate mine seepage of 14000 m3/day
3
. Similarly, in the same district, a proposed South Eastern Coalfield Limited (SECL) coalmine of capacity 3.5 million tones per annum has groundwater seepage potential of the magnitude of 4932 m3/day and peak water requirement of order 750 m3 per day. These two mines together would consume or generatewater through seepage to the order of 6.64 million m
3
every year . This much water could meet therequirement of around 1.34 lakh people every day.The Neyveli lignite mines in Tamil Nadu pumps out an estimated 40 million litre of water everyday.In case of iron ore mines in Goa,most iron ore mines work below the groundwater level. Itis estimated that, for every tonne of iron ore that Goa produces, about 10 tonne of water has to be pumped out.However, most often the EIA reports claim that as the mine would depend on mineseepage and would not draw water from surface source. Therefore no impact on surface source isanticipated.There are several instances wherein mining operation in a region has led to water scarcity. For example - indiscriminate sand mining in has resulted in drinking water scarcity in several parts of southern Kerala.
4
 Indiscriminate sand mining from riverbanks has affected the riverbed level.
1
1
st
international conference on managing the social and environmental consequences of coal mining inIndia, pp 523
2
1
st
international conference on managing the social and environmental consequences of coal mining inIndia, pp 523
3
EIA/EMP for Gare IV/6 Coal Block of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, June 2007.
4
G K Nair, 2006, Water scarcity hits parts of South Kerala, Business Line, March 30, 2006, website of  business line, http://www.blonnet.com/2006/03/31/stories/2006033101981900.htm
1
A study by the state pollution control board says:“The Mahanadi basin, particularly the Ib valley area,has a rich mining potential of coal. There are 10coalmines which discharge around 33,065 kilolitres per day of wastewater (into) this river during themonsoon and pose a serious threat, the effluentcontains heavy metals and sulphur compounds
 
Absence of sand-bed in the rivers is also negatively affecting water conservation and theunderground water table. As many wells are going dry in the State, selling of drinking water intankers has become a flourishing business. Many have dug wells in the low-lying areas and set up pumping facilities to sell water.Similarly, the people in Talcher, coal belt of Orissa, are paying a high price for mining. In thisarea, wells are sinking, water table is constantly falling and even deep tube wells yield nothing.The Brahmani river earlier used to provide plenty of water to sustain a predominantly agrarianeconomy. With mining activity picking up after India’s independence, several water intensiveindustries came up. Industries consume more than 56 per cent of water. Ten billion litres of groundwater is pumped out everyday in the coalfields of Talcher and Ib valley, drying up aquifersin an area of 1,000 sq. km. As the villagers clamour for compensation, the Mahanadi Coalfields(MCL) supplies back the water collected in mines as drinking water to villages by tankers.
 5
 Mining also affects the natural water transport system such as natural drainage system and nallah,and natural streams, which feeds water to perennial and seasonal rivers. However, most of EIAdevelopers fear that if they provide true picture on the actual scenario, then it might be difficultfor them to get environmental clearance. Many a times, EIA reports are prepared without visitingthe site. An excellent example is the EIA report of Utkal Alumina project in Orissa. The EIAstates that plant will source 8.5 MTPA bauxite from theBaphlimali hills and indicates that thereare only two streams originating from the Baphlimali hills. However, locals put the number of streams originating from these hills at an incredible 56, all of which feed the Indravati river basin.Today, water is one of the main reasons behind protests by communities against mining andmineral based industries. For example, villager at Dhargini Bhati in Goa-alleged that illegaloperation of Timblo Ltd’s beneficiation plant was polluting water resources. Local villagersopposed the proposed chromite mining of M/s OMC Ltd in Orissa
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in a public hearing processfearing water scarcity.Most of the limestone mine in Indiais located in the water-scarce regions of the country. Mine seepage coupled with water use for running mine and cement plant has leftthe already parched local communities in a worse state. Limestone miners, who are also theowners of neighbouring cement plants, are now feeling the pinch themselves. Growing tensionswith the community over water are forcing them to conserve the resource by recycling andreusing it.
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4.3.1 Water consumption in mining industry
Typical operations at mines, whether underground or open pit, include drilling, blasting, oretransporting and stockpiling, and, usually, size reduction. In some cases, water may also berequired for cooling of machineries. Other than these main operations, it is also required for washing of HEMM, dust suppression, fire fighting, water sprinkling on roads, etc.
8
 
The water consumption at the mines obviously depends on the size, method of mining and theequipment used. A large mine is likely to have higher water consumption as it has longer haulroads. Mines with dry drilling machines would have lower water consumption. Undergroundmines would also have lower water consumption as compared to open cast mines as majority of the water is consumed for dust suppression, which is not a major issue for underground mines.
5
Anon 2000,
 A Nationalised Nightmare
, Down to Earth, New Delhi, pp 37
6
http://orissapcb.nic.in/publichearing/PHProceeding/South%20Kaliapani/PH%20Proceeding%20southkaliapani.pdf 
7
Chandra Bhushan et al,
 Rich lands and poor people
:
 Is sustainable mining possible
, Centre for Science &Environment, New Delhi, 2007.
8
Environment Management Plan for Gondegaon Extension Open Cast Mine, Western Coalfields Limited,2005, pp 14, 24
2
 
However, in underground mines, water is used for cooling the cutting surfaces of miningmachinery and for inhibiting friction-induced ignition of coal fines or gas.Though specific water consumption
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 in a mine may not be very high, its overall water footprint isfairly large as it consumes large volume of water. For example, in case of captive bauxite miningof Utkal Alumina, an aluminium company based in Orissa, the quantity of water which willconsumed at the mines is only 87.6 litres per tonne of ore extracted, which seems a smallamount.
10
But in actuality, the mine will consume around 263 million m
3
of water every year.This much water could meet the requirement of 5340 million people per annum.
11
 In case of captive limestone mining, large-scale Indian cement companies consume about 20litres of water in mines to extract one tonne of limestone.
12
 However, considering the fact thatabout 170 MT of limestone is mined annually, the total water used to extract limestone alonestands at about 4.25 MT. But limestone mines are some of the lowest water consumers in themining sector – limestone is used directly in cement-making without any beneficiation.This is not the case with metallic minerals like iron ore, bauxite, copper or gold, where mineral beneficiation and processing is required to extract minerals. Water consumption, therefore, ishigh. There are no estimates about the total amount of water used up by metallic mineral mines inIndia. However, some conclusions can be derived from water consumption data of major mines.Average water consumption (excluding domestic consumption) at the iron ore mines of Tata Steel(at Noamundi in Jharkhand and Joda East in Orissa) is about 600 litre per tonne of iron ore. Water consumption (excluding domestic consumption) in the Dalli and Rajhara iron ore mines of theBhilai Steel Plant is about 800 litre per tonne of iron ore. Even if we assume a lower value of 500litre per tonne of iron ore (many small mines don’t have beneficiation processes) as a benchmark to estimate the water consumption by iron ore mines in India, the amount of water consumed toextract iron ore in India in 2005-06 comes to a staggering 77 MT – enough to meet the dailywater requirements of more than three million people.
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The water use at a mine does not end with its closure. Even after its closure, there is still loss of water in form of evaporation from stored water/reservoir, tailing waste as well as contaminationof sizeable flows of natural waters. A study conducted by the Australian Institute of Mining &Technology, found that a mine in a humid subtropical area of South America spread over 106 ha,had a water footprint, which exceeded the land by a factor of 27. Although the water footprintshould have declined by a factor of ten immediately after closure, sustained evaporation from pitlakes and tailings dams meant that the final post-closure water footprint remained at 25 per centof that encountered during the peak of mining.
14
4.3.2 Mining and water pollution
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Quantity of water consumed to extract one tonne of mineral
10
Calculated based on information from Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the ProposedCapacity Expansion of Bauxite Mines from 3.0 MTPA to 8.5 MTPA at Baphimali Plateau, pp C2-35
11
Based on per capita consumption in India of 13 gallon or 0.04921035 m3 per person. Per capitaconsumption taken from www.aag.org/hdgc/www/intro/units/unit1/worksheets/wksheet1-3.PDF
12
Chandra Bhushan et al, Concrete Facts, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, 2005, pp 34
13
EIA/EMP for Gare IV/6 Coal Block of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, June 2007.
14
P L Younger, 2006, The Water Footprint of Mining Operations in Space and Time — A New Paradigmfor Sustainability Assessments?, Australian Institute of Mining & Technology,http://www.shop.ausimm.com.au/paperdetails.php?PaperID=2342
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S.Nallaperumal

Yes It's an important paper, Thanks for sharing. It should share with all mining persons

reply10 / 10 / 2010
Anandi1

Very important paper

reply04 / 07 / 2010
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