Through conducting diverse research on water usage in the mining industry it has been demonstrated that gold mining requires the highest amount of water in comparison to iron, steel, copper, aluminum, sand and gravel mining, and cement production. Following gold mining, copper mining ranks as the second-highest consumer of water.
To produce one kilogram of gold metal it takes approximately 400 cubic meters of water. For copper the amount of water needed is around 200 cubic meters. Water is primarily used in gold and copper processing operations for concentration, leaching, and refinery processes.
Compared to gold and copper processing, sand and gravel mining and cement production use the least amount of water. For each ton of cement or Portland cement 6.2 cubic meters of water is used. In cement factories water is used for various purposes such as grout production, cooling machinery (cooling towers and mills), laboratories, and offices. In sand and gravel mining the water consumption ranges from 150 to 300 cubic meters for sand washing depending on the mine’s internal capacity.