“Responsible water management begins with understanding that everyone has a basic right to clean water,” highlights Francis McAllister, Vice President of Energy, Land, and Water at Freeport-McMoRan.  

Over the course of his 30-plus-year career in the mining sector, McAllister has worn various hats, including roles across Magma Copper Company and BHP Billiton, as well as in other positions within Freeport-McMoRan managing reclamation and remediation as well as having worked in Business Development.  

Chairman of the Arizona Mining Association, he also shares his expertise on the Water in Mining’s Global Summit Advisory Board. At the Water in Mining Global Summit, in Vancouver this April, McAllister will be speaking as part of the panel discussion: How can we optimize risk strategies around water in mining and comply with ESG goals? 

To learn more about how Freeport is approaching water management in an increasingly volatile climate, and balancing the various risks that come alongside in, Water in Mining sat down with McAllister.  

Water as a shared resource 

In practice, for Arizona-headquartered Freeport - a leading mining company and major copper producer - smart and sustainable water management means striving to use renewable, recycled, or low-quality water over fresh resources. McAllister notes that Freeport has made strides in its water circularity efforts, typically reusing the water introduced into the company’s operations four to five times before it’s lost to entrainment or evaporation. 

In prioritising water reuse, Freeport aims to help reserve other vital sources of water for local communities, as McAllister points out. “We also look for opportunities to transition our water supplies away from sources that are utilized by others, so that other users are not competing for the same water that we need for our mining operations.” 

To facilitate this fair, shared water usage, communication with stakeholders is critical for Freeport, both to explain the company’s current water use and operational plans, and to support communities with their own water supplies. 

In the southwest of the United States, for instance, the company works to secure Water Rights Settlements, collaborating with local tribes to help them secure long-term water resources, while also ensuring the company creates water security for its operations. 

Freeport takes the same collaborative approach across its sites, including in Arequipa, Peru. There, McAllister explains that Freeport constructed and now operates "the largest wastewater treatment plant in the country,” which enables both the local community and Freeport to harness effluent for mining, farming, and other applications. “This added a supply of usable water to the community and to Freeport that wasn’t previously there,” says McAllister.  

“We also have constructed other wastewater treatment plants in smaller, local communities, and then entered into agreements where we purchase the effluent from communities to provide them with another income source, as well as generate a supply of recycled water for our own operations,” McAllister adds.  

A balancing act: climate risk and commercial success 

McAllister does highlight that compared with other industries like agriculture, energy, and data centers, mining falls relatively low in terms of actual water consumption, arguably providing “a higher economic return to communities in terms of employment and tax generation than many other, more water-intensive industries.” 

The issue, of course, is that mining is limited by the location of the orebody. 

“Unlike these other industries, we can’t relocate an orebody to a more water abundant area, like you could a data center or an electrical generation facility, or even a farm.  As such, the largest challenge is moving available water over greater distances for use at the mine operation.” 

Often, local watershed resources are too tight to accommodate new mining operations and in the event that there is water available, it’s likely that local communities will already be reliant on this supply. Competing with communities for resources in this way is something that Freeport seeks to avoid. 

Managing community needs alongside environmental considerations and operational demand is a complicated task, which is why continual assessment is crucial. “To maintain long-term resilience in our water supply, we constantly study our water sources and operate to ensure the sustainability of the resource,” explains McAllister. “This helps us to better manage our resources to ensure long-term resilience with our water supplies.” 

The company outlines these assessments in more detail in its yearly Sustainability Report, which McAllister says is “key to ensuring our stakeholders understand our risks and how they fit into our operating plans.” 

Legacy responsibility 

Responsibility over water resources doesn’t end once Freeport has ceased operations in an area, of course, and the company undertakes constant and continuous monitoring of the surrounding watershed to assess the impact of historical mining activities. 

“At Freeport, we work with local and federal agencies to ensure that we are doing what is necessary to restore watersheds that may have been impacted by legacy mining activities,” says McAllister. 

Mitigation may include groundwater remediation, waste and tailings management, and effective wastewater treatment. This way, Freeport aims to help maintain (and if need be, restore) habitats, as well as safeguard long-term water security for communities and other water users in the area. 

The future of mining 

What is needed across the sector to make sure water management moves from being compliance driven to a truly regenerative practice? 

For McAllister, more focus needs to be put on tailings. While many companies have transformed water management in their existing milling and leaching operations, including through closed-loop water recirculation, tailings remain a significant “opportunity in water management for the mining industry,” says McAllister. 

While Freeport is already harnessing monitoring solutions to evaluate the ongoing impact of its operations and ensure a water source remains sustainable for the environment and surrounding community, McAllister highlights that the team is also evaluating new technologies to reduce its water intensity overall. “Ensuring that the technologies work on large-scale mining activities before implementation is a major focus,” he says. 

And zooming out to the broader landscape, McAllister maintains that it’s essential that policymakers continue to recognize the vital part mining plays in the green transition. As the world continues to pivot away from fuel-heavy systems, energy generation is increasingly reliant on material-heavy technologies, such as wind turbines and solar panels. 

In fact, between 2022 and 2050, it’s estimated that the energy transition will require 6.5 billion tonnes of end-use materials, 95% of which is made up of steel, copper, and aluminium. As a supplier of around 8.5% of globally mined copper, Freeport is acutely aware of the pivotal role mining will continue to play on the road to net zero, as well as the additional climate and social risks that must be carefully navigated in this journey. 

"Without mining, advancement in greener technologies will stagnate,” warns McAllister. “Policies that recognize the importance of mining to global sustainability goals, as well as those that help to demonstrate mining’s community and environmental contributions, are needed to assist in securing permits and facilitating new operations.”