As part of their push to become a global leader in sustainable gold mining, Gold Fields has partnered with power company Aggreko to install a hybrid solar and battery generation system to provide electricity to the Granny Smith gold mine.
Located near Laverton, Western Australia, the Granny Smith mine has so far produced over 1.2M ounces of gold. Currently, Gold Fields is spending around $25 million a year on exploration in the area, to further extend the life of the mine.
The proposed hybrid system will be constructed of a renewable microgrid, made of over 20,000 solar panels collectively capable of generating up to eight megawatts of electricity, in addition to a two-megawatt battery system for storage.
The electricity produced by the hybrid plan will be split between the project’s Wallaby underground mine (12.2 megawatts) and the mine’s other facilities (12 megawatts) and is expected to reduce overall fuel consumption by 10–13%.
Construction of the solar facility is expected to begin in May, with completion slated for the fourth quarter of 2019. Read the full article HERE.
The details for Aggreko, one of the main project developers, can be found through this site.