How building community water infrastructure can be a win for miners

Frik Els | October 3, 2013 | 7:11 pm

Miners who build water facilities for their operations in developing communities should consider the opportunity to pass on the infrastructure once they cease operations.

The investment in infrastructure beyond intended use can add to costs, write Andrew Watson and Resa Furey in Mining Journal (paywall), but the return can be substantial with better stakeholders relationships:

Miners are often the first to enter areas where development is lacking, so communities look to them to build or improve infrastructure such as dams, potable water networks and wastewater treatment plants. Once built, ownership and responsibility for operating these types of facilities are increasingly shared with communities. With the immediate benefit of improved water supply in an arid climate or better treatment of municipal waste, communities are seeing improvements in their quality of life thanks to mining.