Why Water Innovation in Mining Can’t Wait

Tailings failures and water disasters

High-profile mining accidents have underscored the human and environmental toll of poor water management. In 2019, a tailings dam collapse in Brumadinho, Brazil released a deadly torrent of sludge that engulfed villages and polluted a major river, killing hundreds.¹ In 2022, a dam breach at Jagersfontein in South Africa inundated rivers and farmland with mining waste, destroying over 160 homes and leaving 26 square kilometers coated in sludge1. Sadly, these are not isolated incidents; experts warn that 2-5 major tailings dam failures still occur each year on average.² Heavy rainfall linked to climate change is raising the risks further, as intense storms have been implicated in about 25% of tailings dam failures globally.³ Each failure brings not only tragic loss of life and ecological damage, but also reputational ruin and massive cleanup liabilities for the companies involved. But growing awareness is beginning to shift the response. From advanced tailings monitoring to real-time water quality systems, the tools to prevent future disasters are rapidly improving.

Water stress and climate change

At the other extreme, water scarcity is emerging as a critical threat to mining operations. Many large mines operate in arid regions where climate change is intensifying drought cycles. In Chile, for example, prolonged drought has forced major copper producers to invest in expensive desalination plants to secure water supply.⁴ Antofagasta's Los Pelambres mine recently opened a $2 billion desalination facility to reduce its draw on shrinking groundwater sources4. This shift is necessary but comes at a high price: desalinated seawater can cost 10 times more per cubic meter than traditional freshwater sources.⁴ Globally, one analysis found 16% of critical mineral mines already operate in areas of high water stress, a share expected to rise to 20% by 2025.⁵ In these regions, mines compete with farms and communities for scarce water, raising the risk of conflicts and even production shutdowns. Climate models also suggest that floods and extreme weather will strike more often in certain mining hubs, meaning water management must deal with both too little water and too much.⁶ The bottom line is that water risks- whether scarcity or excess- are no longer a distant concern; they are disrupting operations and finance today. In 2018 alone, the mining sector recorded over $20 billion in water-related financial impacts, from drought-driven cost spikes to flood damages.⁶ Yet the same pressure is catalyzing innovation. Low-energy treatment technologies, water reuse systems, and smart sensors are making it possible to rethink how water is used and reused across the mining value chain. What was once viewed as a liability is now a growing frontier for operational efficiency and resilience.

ESG scrutiny and regulatory pressure

As these challenges mount, investors, communities, and regulators are all raising their expectations for mining's water stewardship. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) analysts now closely scrutinize how mines manage water and tailings. "Mining companies face substantial water risks- from the reputational threat of disasters to the direct financial impact of floods and scarcity- and climate change will only exacerbate these" warns WWF's Global Water Lead.⁶ The same WWF report urged investors to demand rigorous water-risk assessments before financing projects.⁶ In response, major miners have started to publish detailed water data and set targets for recycling and efficiency. Regulators are also tightening the screws. Many top mining jurisdictions have introduced stricter rules and standards for water management, aiming to hold companies accountable. For instance, Australia requires miners to follow a standardized Water Accounting Framework for reporting⁵, and Canada enforces a Towards Sustainable Mining protocol with performance expectations for water governance and watershed-scale planning.⁵ Internationally, the new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management now mandates robust measures to prevent dam failures. In short, the era of treating water as an afterthought is over; stakeholders at every level are pushing mining companies to prioritize water or face serious consequences. Together, these shifts are raising the bar and opening the door for water innovation to move from the margins to the mainstream of mining strategy.

The valley of death

Given the urgent need, why aren't new water technologies being adopted faster across the mining sector? The reality is that many promising innovations get stuck in what's often called the "valley of death": the perilous gap between early-stage development and real-world deployment. This is especially acute in water tech, where solutions must prove themselves under highly variable, site-specific, and often extreme conditions.

Startups may build compelling prototypes or generate strong lab results, but without access to real mine sites and data, they struggle to validate performance at scale. Potential partners are reluctant to take a chance on something unproven, and without that demonstration, it's difficult to raise follow-on funding or generate early revenue. This dynamic traps even high-potential technologies in a cycle where progress stalls for lack of proof, and proof can't be gathered without progress.

Meanwhile, the barriers to crossing this valley are particularly steep in mining. Water systems are complex and deeply integrated into operations, downtime is expensive, and environmental and safety concerns are non-negotiable. A mine can't just plug in a new treatment system or sensor network overnight, it needs confidence that the technology will work, fit existing workflows, and deliver measurable value.

Data and validation challenges

Water problems are rarely one-size-fits-all. Every mine has unique chemistry, flow rates, treatment goals, and infrastructure constraints making it difficult for startups to demonstrate performance across the variety of real-world scenarios they'll need to succeed. Without access to real operational data, startups can't quantify the value they deliver. Without pilot opportunities, they can't generate the evidence needed to win over future customers. And without trusted guidance, they risk developing solutions that are technically elegant but practically misaligned. These barriers slow the learning cycle and often stall momentum, even for technologies that work on paper.

Misaligned incentives and priorities

Mining companies, under intense pressure to meet production and profit goals, tend to favor projects that increase throughput or reduce immediate costs. Water innovations-especially those focused on long-term sustainability or compliance-are often seen as secondary to core operational priorities. When incentives are misaligned, or when organizational silos prevent collaboration across departments, even promising solutions can struggle to gain traction.

The message to mining companies and innovators alike is clear: meeting the water challenge will require bold, collaborative action- and it cannot wait. Every year of delay increases the likelihood of another tailings disaster, another community without clean water, or another mine forced to halt due to drought. The good news is that the industry is waking up. We see miners big and small starting to embrace open innovation, including Rio Tinto's Founder Factory initiative, which recently backed two water-focused startups: Bluum Bio, developing nature-based remediation for contaminated sites, and Sunchem, working on extracting value from complex waste streams. These early investments show how major mining companies can support scalable solutions by engaging directly with climate tech entrepreneurs.

I​​t's not just the mining industry waking up to the urgency of tailings and water risks-investors are stepping in as well. Following the Brumadinho disaster, the Church of England Pensions Board co-founded the Investor Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative (IMTSI) alongside the Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds. This initiative, representing over 100 investors with more than $25 trillion in assets under management, aimed to address the systemic risks associated with tailings storage facilities. This collaboration culminated in the publication of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) in August 2020. In December 2020, the Church of England Pensions Board contacted over 300 mining companies, requesting their support for the standard and a timeline for its implementation, signaling that financial institutions now expect stronger environmental safeguards as a condition for continued investment.⁸

For mining operators, acting boldly might mean volunteering your site as a test bed, or investing in a pilot that could yield long-term gains in water resilience. For startups and innovators, it means stepping up to understand mining constraints and tailoring solutions that deliver both environmental and economic value. Regulators and investors, for their part, should continue to encourage and reward those who lead on water stewardship, not just punish those who lag. If all stakeholders share the risk and reward of innovation, the "first-mover" fear begins to fade.

Imagine a future where mine sites actively regenerate water, communities see mining as a partner in resilience, and the next generation of technologies is forged through collaboration, not crisis. Programs like the Mining Water Tech Pilot Pathway offer a blueprint for turning talk into action, and skepticism into trust. By breaking down silos and forging pilot collaborations, mining can accelerate the adoption of technologies that make operations cleaner, safer, and more sustainable. The road ahead will not be easy- mines can't change overnight- but the direction is set. Water is life, for communities and mines alike. It's time to move beyond caution and start innovating at the rock face, where it counts. In doing so, the industry will not only safeguard its own viability but also build a legacy of responsible water stewardship. The challenges are urgent, but with collective resolve and ingenuity, mining can turn water from a looming crisis into a catalyst for innovation and value creation. The water challenges in mining are urgent but solvable. What's needed now is courage, collaboration, and commitment to lead.

References

1. Another Deadly Dam Collapse in Brazil (2019). NASA Earth Observatory. Available at: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144501/another-deadly-dam-collapse-in-brazil (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
2. Navigating the ESG of Tailings Management (2020) ERM. Available at: https://www.erm.com/insights/navigating-the-esg-of-tailings-management/ (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
3. Skidmore, Z. (2022) 'Responsible mining in the 21st century', Mining Technology, 28 April. Available at: https://www.mining-technology.com/analysis/responsible-mining-esg/ (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
4. GBR - Mining, Water and Climate Change (2024). Available at: https://www.gbreports.com/article/mining-water-and-climate-change (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
5. Future-Proofing Mining Operations with Smarter Water Targets (2025). Available at: https://www.waterplan.com/blog/setting-achieving-contextual-water-targets-in-the-mining-industry (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
6. Mining companies and commodities face significant water risks, warns WWF report (2020). Available at: https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?359211/Mining-companies-and-commodities-face-significant-water-risks-warns-WWF-report (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
7. Escaping From Pilot Purgatory : Role Of Cio Is Essential To Scale Up To A Full Techenabled Transformation (no date) Managing Manufacturing. Available at: https://www.managingmfg.com/cxoinsight/escaping-from-pilot-purgatory-role-of-cio-is-essential-to-scale-up-to-a-full-techenabled-transformation-nwid-367.html (Accessed: 14 May 2025).
8. The Investor Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative (no date) The Church of England. Available at: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/national-church-institutions/church-england-pensions-board/pensions (Accessed: 14 May 2025).