Outotec has designed the Pretium Water Advisor to predict changes in water balance and quality based on changing production and environmental conditions.

The solution combines ‘intelligent' water measurement stations and instrumentation with Outotec's predictive water balance computing. Its aim, according to the company, is to eliminate miners' reliance on time-consuming manual water-balance and KPI calculations.

"Water is a scarce and valuable resource, and mining operations are under increasing pressure to optimise their water usage in order to improve environmental and economic performance," Outotec said.

"Outotec Pretium Water Advisor enables real-time monitoring of the water balance across an entire site, allowing operators to create short-term forecasts for water volume and quality."

Plant managers and engineers can view water KPIs as both graphical views and historical trends via a web-based interface, as well as access scenario management tools for performing simulations and evaluating the impacts of new water-treatment investments, process changes or the impact of expansion plans on the site's water resources.

The Water Advisor monitoring stations can provide real-time data on both environmental and process waters. According to Outotec, they are designed to perform reliably in harsh environments even under constant exposure to rain, humidity, dust, frost and sun.

Outotec has commercialised the solution with the help of funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, under Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.