The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment
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...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-11-01
|
| Series: | Resources |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/10/12/120 |
| _version_ | 1797500903740145664 |
|---|---|
| author | Simon Meißner |
| author_facet | Simon Meißner |
| author_sort | Simon Meißner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:10:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-577a81a29b6945eb8777d7b480a95732 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9276 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:10:34Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Resources |
| spelling | doaj.art-577a81a29b6945eb8777d7b480a957322023-11-23T10:26:14ZengMDPI AGResources2079-92762021-11-01101212010.3390/resources10120120The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact AssessmentSimon Meißner0Environmental Science Center, University of Augsburg, Universitaetsstr. 1a, 86159 Augsburg, GermanyThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/10/12/120metalsminingwater stresswater scarcitywater footprint accountinglife cycle assessment (LCA) |
| spellingShingle | Simon Meißner The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment Resources metals mining water stress water scarcity water footprint accounting life cycle assessment (LCA) |
| title | The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment |
| title_full | The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment |
| title_short | The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment |
| title_sort | impact of metal mining on global water stress and regional carrying capacities a gis based water impact assessment |
| topic | metals mining water stress water scarcity water footprint accounting life cycle assessment (LCA) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/10/12/120 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT simonmeißner theimpactofmetalminingonglobalwaterstressandregionalcarryingcapacitiesagisbasedwaterimpactassessment AT simonmeißner impactofmetalminingonglobalwaterstressandregionalcarryingcapacitiesagisbasedwaterimpactassessment |