Waterminer – a regional spatio-temporal approach to water reuse management in mining areas in Vietnam

Abstract

Mining is usually associated with draining of large quantities of water. On the other hand, mining operations themselves are water users for purposes like coal or ore washing, dust mitigation, recultivation, etc. The normally existing water surplus can be seen as a resource for public purposes instead of discharging the water to rivers and the sea. It is typical for the mining operation that these water amounts vary spatio-temporally according to the mining process. The R&D project WaterMiner investigates the example of the Hon Gai hard coal mining area in Ha Long, Vietnam, as to how and to what extent under the variable spatio-temporal conditions the mine water can cover the water demand in the mines themselves and contribute to the public water supply in the surrounding settlement area of Hon Gai. The spatio-temporal change of mine water drainage, mine water treatment and mine-internal water use and the potential mine-external water use volumes in the project region are investigated by a material flow model and visualized by Sankey diagrams, maps, and tables. Several options for delivery of mine water for mine-external water uses as a contribution to the public water supply are shown.

River Ecosystem Resilience: Applying the Contingent Valuation Method in Vietnam

“…These developments have urged mining companies to handle water resources and wastewater in a much more environmentally friendly and efficient way. For the above reasons, the WaterMiner project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mine water management within Hon Gai peninsula-the eastern part of Ha Long city, through material flow analysis (Greassidis et al, 2020) [44], the technical concepts about surface run-off and mine water treatment (Ulbricht et al, 2018) [45], and the economic concepts to consider changes in non-market ecosystem services presented in this paper. Figure 1 illustrates the project area.…”

Comparative Analysis: Resource Consumption and Environmental Pollution by Subsoil Users in Northern Asia (Russia)

“…It is evident that the large-scale impact on natural complexes during deposit development significantly affects the state of the environment. This prompts the need for sustainable practices and mitigation measures to address these environmental challenges [12], such as the use of renewable energy [13], efficient water management practices [14], investment in research, and innovation [15]. As resource consumption and environmental pollution are closely interconnected and mutually reinforcing, reducing resource consumption and reaching resource efficiency is one of the critical tasks in the transition to sustainable development [16,17].…”

Mechanism of Changes in Goaf Water Hydrogeochemistry: A Case Study of the Menkeqing Coal Mine

“…In China, the exploitation method of coal resources is mainly underground mining [1,2]. Coal mining usually produces a large amount of mine water [3][4][5]. All equipment and materials are usually withdrawn, and the working panel is permanently closed within 45 days after mining is finished.…”

“…(2) to characterize the spatial and temporal variation of hydrochemical characteristics in goaf; (3) to identify the hydrogeochemical processes controlling the composition of goaf water. The research results are of great significance to predicting ion concentration changes in goaf water and accurately controlling groundwater pollution in the coal mine area.…”