Water scarcity is a major issue worldwide and is a risk factor for many industries including the mining sector. In the mining industry, water is regularly used as a dust suppressant on roads to minimise health impacts and visibility issues. It has been calculated that water for dust suppression can be responsible for about 9% of total water losses in a typical mine operation. An alternative to water is the use of Hexahydrated Magnesium Chloride (6H_2O·MgCl_2), a by-product of the lithium extraction and processing sector. Following positive laboratory results regarding its ability to maintain an optimal moisture content in soil, we monitored water use and dust emissions on a mine operation to analyse the impacts to operational water use and dust suppression. Application of the by-product reduced water consumption for dust suppression on the mine site by about 99% and dust emissions were 3.4 times lower on average than when only water was used. Widespread application of this by-product in the mining industry has the potential to generate positive environmental safety outcomes.
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