Oz Minerals, the Australian mining giant, is harnessing wind and solar power for its West Musgrave mine to reduce the high costs from fossil fuels.
West Musgrave is the largest unexplored nickel-copper deposit in Australia. Power accounts for 40% of the mine’s processing costs.
“Large-scale solar photovoltaic and wind solutions are currently economically viable and technically mature solutions to reduce the project’s reliance on high-cost fossil fuels for electricity generation,” the company said, adding that a high-quality, consistent solar and wind resource was available at the mine.
Oz will accordingly satisfy the 55MW energy requirement of the mine through a mix of solar, wind, and diesel power. About 70 to 80% of this will be from renewable sources, while diesel and battery storage will make up the balance.
Oz Minerals CEO Andrew Cole highlighted a hybrid power solution as one of the opportunities that would reduce the company’s carbon footprint, cut its power costs, and improve overall project economics.
Read the company release HERE.