智利北部的阿塔卡马沙漠富含矿产矿床，包括Teck的Quebrada Blanca第2阶段（QB2）项目，是世界上最大的未开发铜资源之一。然而，该地区在丰富的矿物质中，它缺乏可用的淡水。
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth, and freshwater, which is critical to the mining process, is a resource to be used sparingly. To protect this commodity, and as part of the QB2 project, Teck is building a large-scale desalination plant so that desalinated seawater can be used in place of freshwater for the mining process.
“Given our proximity to the Pacific Ocean, we wanted a way to use seawater for the mining process at QB2 so we could protect the region’s freshwater supply and support our sustainability commitments,” said Francisco Raynaud, Port Manager for Teck’s QB2 project. “To achieve this, we have partnered with IDE Technologies, one of the most prominent desalination companies in the world with experience building large-scale plants, to design and engineer our desalination facility.”
海水淡化过程
The seawater desalination process works through reverse osmosis, in which a semi-permeable membrane is used to remove ions, molecules and larger particles to create freshwater.
Seawater is pumped to the desalination plant, purified, then pumped by five booster stations up 4,400 metres of altitude to QB2’s concentrator plant, where it will be used for mining processes. The leftover concentrated saltwater is pumped back into the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 40 metres (750 metres from the coast) to ensure there is enough dilution to be compatible with the ocean’s ecosystem.
Suction pipes used to collect seawater are almost a metre in diameter, located nearly 500 metres from land at a depth of 30 metres, and are designed to ensure full compliance with coastal protection requirements.
在全容量运行时，海水淡化厂将净化每秒约1,000升，足以在40秒内填充奥林匹克尺寸的池。
水是Teck最重要的可持续性问题之一，以及我们可持续发展战略的重点。智利海水淡化厂等项目是Teck承诺减少淡水消费和提高水的绩效的一部分。了解有关Teck的水管理方法，访问teck.com/responsibility
