Table 6.3

Unit Water Consumption in Copper Mining by Water Type, Process and Company Size

Unit: Units according to indicator · Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025 · 2009 to 2025

Unit Water Consumption in Copper Mining by Water Type, Process and Company Size. Units according to indicator
Series	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
UNIT CONTINENTAL WATER CONSUMPTION (1)
CONCENTRATION (m³/t min)
Large-Scale Copper Mining	0.668	0.679	0.632	0.592	0.565	0.529	0.506	0.465	0.433	0.345	0.345	0.341	0.369	0.351	0.324	0.344	0.316
Medium-Scale Copper Mining	0.781	0.902	0.884	0.884	0.852	0.589	0.596	0.775	0.677	0.818	0.752	0.701	0.705	0.667	0.667	0.594	0.49
DOMESTIC TOTAL	0.672	0.686	0.65	0.605	0.574	0.535	0.508	0.472	0.438	0.355	0.354	0.349	0.376	0.358	0.33	0.348	0.32
HYDROMETALLURGY (m³/t min)
Large-Scale Copper Mining	0.121	0.108	0.119	0.104	0.095	0.079	0.101	0.094	0.084	0.095	0.102	0.095	0.078	0.072	0.078	0.061	0.051
Medium-Scale Copper Mining	0.106	0.19	0.239	0.098	0.06	0.15	0.299	0.419	0.243	0.329	0.135	0.105	0.088	0.109	0.079	0.093	0.096
DOMESTIC TOTAL	0.12	0.119	0.12	0.105	0.093	0.081	0.105	0.1	0.088	0.1	0.103	0.096	0.079	0.073	0.078	0.063	0.053
TOTAL UNIT WATER CONSUMPTION (2)
Concentration (m³/t min)	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.678	0.609	0.65	0.506	0.527	0.546	0.61	0.61	0.607	0.612	0.6
Hydrometallurgy (m³/t min)	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.112	0.117	0.111	0.132	0.144	0.141	0.113	0.115	0.129	0.119	0.092

Notes of the table

(1) Considera el agua continental consumida en los procesos de producción minera, estimada proporcionalmente según la participación del agua continental respecto del total de agua extraída en la operación. / Includes continental water consumed in mining production processes, estimated proportionally according to the share of continental water relative to the total water extracted in the operation.
(2) Considera el agua continental y el agua de mar que ingresan al proceso y son consumidas, sin posibilidad de recuperación para su reutilización en las operaciones. / Includes continental water and seawater entering the process that are consumed and cannot be recovered for reuse in operations.
n.d. Datos no disponibles debido a cambios en el formato de la encuesta. / Data not available due to changes in the survey format.

Source stated in the table

Elaborado por la Comisión Chilena del Cobre (COCHILCO), en base a información reportada por las empresas mediante encuesta anual. / Prepared by the Chilean Copper Commission (COCHILCO), based on information reported by companies through an annual survey.

Source: Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco), Cochilco, Anuario Cochilco 2025 (XLSX), 2026. Read on Oct 6, 2026.

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n.d.: no data · n.a.: not applicable · “< 1”: less than one unit.