In April 2018, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Veolia Water Technologies had been hired to design and deliver a reverse osmosis system for Fosterville, a gold mine in Victoria, Australia. It was to treat process water for reuse and cut chloride below 500 mg/l. The design combined multimedia and carbon filters, a primary RO stage and a second stage recovering water from the reject. Operator Kirkland Lake Gold aimed to meet its licence conditions. The mine lay 20 km from Bendigo; start-up was planned for 2019.
The report showed that mines were turning to reverse osmosis to recycle process water and satisfy permit conditions, not only to supply drinking water.