Mining's Quiet Sustainability Revolution Offers New Opportunities for Innovative Engineering

A few years ago, when the Rio Tinto decided to expand its iron ore production in Pilbara region of Western Australia, they faced a problem. While the remote region accounts for more than 40 percent of the world's iron ore production, it is also one of the driest parts of the world. Ironically, however, the problem for Rio Tinto's expansion was too much water: the new ore the company wanted to reach lay underneath huge underground aquifers, which meant that the company had to do something with the excess water that came up.

Not wanting to let such volumes of water go to waste, the company considered a number of options, including building recreational water parks or breweries, aquaculture, water bottling and solar-thermal power stations. In the end, however, Rio Tinto came up with a plan to divert water to irrigation to grow wheat, both as feed for cattle operations and to sell to local farmers.

Dennis Gibson, Chief Technical Officer for mining at Black & Veatch, pointed to the Pilbara mine as just one example of how a quiet revolution in mining company culture is leading to a much greater emphasis on sustainability and creative thinking in the industry. Gibson was general manager of the Pilbara project at the time of the water project's initiation. He came to Black & Veatch in 2012 to help integrate and leverage the company's expertise into the global mining sector.

吉布森说：“矿业公司在可持续性方面确实提高了他们的游戏。”他将对可持续性的思维转变与安全文化的思维转变与过去几十年来矿山开展业务金博宝怎么注册的核心部分进行了比较。吉布森相信。对可持续方法的这种越来越强调为与当地社区以及Black＆Veatch等公司提供了新的合作伙伴关系的新机会，这些公司可以为可持续解决方案提供系统级分析和创造性基础设施。

An Industry in the Crosshairs
他说：“在许多方面，矿业公司在可持续性方面都受到了重大审查。”金博宝怎么注册两个国际非政府组织都要求对大规模问题（例如气候变化）以及与水和污染有关的当地激进主义者采取行动。

普鲁贝尔补充说，这些压力只有可能增加。

“Millennials, among other groups, are asking themselves: 'Is what we're doing making things better as we go forward?' As those groups gain influence, they will continue to demand more sustainable, environmentally friendly approaches to all aspects of business."

普鲁贝尔说，好消息是，矿业公司有很多机会运用采矿业和其他部门的可持续性最佳实践。金博宝怎么注册可再生能源资源和水回收的创造性方法的整合只是可以超越行业界限的解决方案的两个示例。

“We are working with some of the biggest IT and tech companies in the world right now, and they are very excited about sustainability," said Plubell. “For instance, they are focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their data centers using renewable energy. There is also a big concern about water use, especially around data center cooling. So we are looking at creative solutions for water reuse in the industry, especially in both developed and developing countries.”

The Need for a Multi-faceted, Strategic Approach
Gibson suggests that ultimately mining companies will aim to integrate such strategic infrastructure solutions with broader and longer-term approaches to sustainable development. Such approaches, he said, will address not only environmental concerns, but will include social and economic aspects as well. And they will necessarily consider impacts that live on beyond the life of the mine.

吉布森（Gibson）指出了南非夸祖鲁·纳塔尔（Kwazulu-natal）的理查兹湾矿产沙丘康复项目。在过去的几十年中，理查兹湾矿物（Richards Bay Minerals）通过库存积极地积极地修复了沿海沙丘森林，然后将表土取代到提取的矿山尾矿和恢复中。吉布森（Gibson）说，吉布森（Gibson）表示，恢复工作不仅关注生物多样性，而且还集中在为当地社区提供可持续土地利用的范围。188bet网址怎么打不开

吉布森认为，世界上23家最大的矿业公司已签署了国际采矿和矿物委员会的“ 10个原则”，其中包括道德商业实践，可持续发展，人权和环境管理等 - 显然是一个明显的行业前进的迹象。

吉布森说：“从本质上讲，矿业公司知道他们必须追求可持续性解决方案（包括环境，社会和经济考虑），以确保他们获得并保留其社会金博宝怎么注册许可以运营。”行业的可持续发展革命是在过去的几年中，它仍然具有势头。”

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a five-part series on mining that can be found in theSolutions Onlinelibrary on bv.com.