In the Tuesday, December 3 edition, Francisca Rivero, general manager of SMI-ICE-Chile and researcher in the Social Performance area of the Center, was interviewed by Nicolas Vial Correa on the program Reporte Minero y Energético on Radio Duna, with the topic: “The use of water and the relationship between communities and industry.”
Although mining uses less than 5% of the water available in Chile, most operations are in areas with a high-water shortage, and that is why this industry is concerned about improving the management of this resource.
“As a Centre, we are working with the main mining companies, both national and international, and we see that a recurring issue is the management of water resources,” explained Francisca Rivero. “Not only in terms of how to think about the proper use of the resource from the perspective of mining production, but also how to make it available to the communities and stakeholders who inhabit these territories.”
In the context of the growth of desalination plants in mining areas, she referred to the challenge of water transport and, above all, interconnection. “We cannot fill our entire coast with desalination plants, one next to the other, to supply each company,” she emphasized.
The general manager of SMI-ICE-Chile focused on the need to move towards interconnected water supply systems, under the model of the project developed for the Atacama Region, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation, and which aims to share, among the various users, the use of desalinated water in a planned and integrated system. “It can be a much more efficient solution in the long term,” she said. “It is not easy to move from competition to collaboration, but at least we see more openness and willingness to think that an interconnected system is what we have to do.”
Listen to the full interview here
