https://www.npr.org/2023/09/26/ [login to see] /us-needs-copper-lithium-minerals-green-tech-climate-western-mines-enough-water
On a 107 degree morning in the mountains east of Phoenix, a miner in a hard hat plunges down the nearly 7,000-foot shaft of what may soon be the biggest underground copper mine in the United States.
But for now, the Resolution Copper mine isn't taking out copper. It's taking out groundwater, at a rate of around 600 gallons per minute. Because this copper is so deep underground, in geologic formations dating back more than a billion years, the mining takes place far below the water table. The mine is removing that aquifer water so the operations don't flood. And the mine is giving away this water for free to nearby farmers, about 6 billion gallons so far.