Monitoring and Evaluation of Water Consumption in the Gohar-Zamin Iron Ore Complex (Sirjan) using Shewhart Control Charts

Background & objectives: One of the biggest concerns about the increasing development of the mining industries, especially in the dry and tropical regions, is their high water consumption and, consequently, the serious threat to the local water resources as well as the impacts of these industrieschr('39') pollution on the environment and other downstream water resources. Therefore, it is necessary to make appropriate decisions and take appropriate measure to manage water consumption in the mining industry. However, the presentation of any operational plan to control water use in such industries depends on the planned and scientific monitoring of water consumption over specific periods. Methods: In this study, water consumption monitoring in the Gohar-Zamin Iron Ore Complex (Sirjan, Iran) was investigated for the first time using Shewhart statistical monitoring method. For this purpose, water consumption data of the plantchr('39')s dual processing lines were collected and organized during one year of operation to develop the control charts. Results: The results show that in different months of the year, water consumption can be independent of the weather conditions or the factory production. Moreover, the cumulative diagrams show that the trend of water consumption in the two lines is almost opposite to each other and each month with increasing water consumption of one line, water consumption of the other line has decreased. Conclusion: To alleviate these problems, expediting the construction of tank No.2 was proposed as the best operational solution for independent water consumption of each processing line.