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Article

The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment

Environmental Science Center, University of Augsburg, Universitaetsstr. 1a, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Resources 2021, 10(12), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120120
Submission received: 23 September 2021 / Revised: 14 November 2021 / Accepted: 15 November 2021 / Published: 26 November 2021

Abstract

The consumption of freshwater in mining accounts for only a small proportion of the total water use at global and even national scales. However, at regional and local scales, mining may result in significant impacts on freshwater resources, particularly when water consumption surpasses the carrying capacities defined by the amount of available water and also considering environmental water requirements. By applying a geographic information system (GIS), a comprehensive water footprint accounting and water scarcity assessment of bauxite, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, uranium and zinc as well as gold, palladium, platinum and silver was conducted to quantify the influence of mining and refining of metal production on regional water availability and water stress. The observation includes the water consumption and impacts on water stress of almost 2800 mining operations at different production stages, e.g., preprocessed ore, concentrate and refined metal. Based on a brief study of mining activities in 147 major river basins, it can be indicated that mining’s contribution to regional water stress varies significantly in each basin. While in most regions mining predominantly results in very low water stress, not surpassing 0.1% of the basins’ available water, there are also exceptional cases where the natural water availability is completely exceeded by the freshwater consumption of the mining sector during the entire year. Thus, this GIS-based approach provides precise information to deepen the understanding of the global mining industry’s influence on regional carrying capacities and water stress.
Keywords: metals; mining; water stress; water scarcity; water footprint accounting; life cycle assessment (LCA); geographic information system (GIS); raw materials criticality assessment metals; mining; water stress; water scarcity; water footprint accounting; life cycle assessment (LCA); geographic information system (GIS); raw materials criticality assessment

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MDPI and ACS Style

Meißner, S. The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment. Resources 2021, 10, 120. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120120

AMA Style

Meißner S. The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment. Resources. 2021; 10(12):120. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120120

Chicago/Turabian Style

Meißner, Simon. 2021. "The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment" Resources 10, no. 12: 120. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120120

APA Style

Meißner, S. (2021). The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment. Resources, 10(12), 120. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120120

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