Mining of Minerals and Groundwater in India DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85309

d.For haul road wetting to suppress dust

e.Irrigation/agricultural uses of mine water after quality analysis

f. For miscellaneous uses by mine/plant colonies, gardening, etc.

The value addition from the mine water can be easily and effectively implemented into practice through corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme of the mining company concerned. In the mines and mining industry, corporate social responsibility assumes a highlighted importance. Some noted examples of value addition are:


A packaged drinking water plant (RO plant of Coal Neer) at Patansaongi mine is yet another example of extracting values from the mine water (see facing figure) by the coal mining company WCL.

3. In one of the cement plant that uses coal for firing cement kiln, a thought to pre-wash coal using mine water was attempted to get the benefit of less coal consumption and low ash generation at source. The operational efficiency of kiln/plant can thus be enhanced considerably with less coal consumption and more energy use. Various captive mines of cement plant, owned by private companies, can get commercial benefits from this idea by making effective use of mine water within their industrial areas and for a selected specific purpose.

Some other ways to extract values from water available in mine are:

i. Both treated/non-treated mine water can be supplied/sold by company at a cost for the miscellaneous uses to local users. In an arid region, for example, Rajasthan, India, this may bring great value.

### Groundwater - Resource Characterisation and Management Aspects


### Table 6.

Mine water uses at WCL coal mines: extracting value


In brief, to extract the value from the mine water, a number of novel and innovative ideas are available, but practical methods as per local requirement are extremely useful. The abovementioned examples are simply a curtain raiser and not to be seen as the ultimate for value extraction from the mine water.
