According to a Reuters report, Chile’s copper industry will triple its use of sea water for industrial processes in the next decade, state copper agency Cochilco was quoted as saying on January 8, as miners in the world’s top producer of the red metal seek alternatives amid growing water shortages. Cochilco said in the cited report that it expected use of sea water, both desalinated and direct from the ocean, to increase by 230% over 2018 levels.

Chile’s top miners, including BHP, Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta, are primarily concentrated in the northern half of Chile, an arid desert region that is among the driest on earth. Sea water could satisfy 43% of the miner’s demands by 2029, Cochilco said in the report. “More and more miners are building their own desalination plants or using water straight from the ocean to confront shortages of water,” the report said.