Ronald Halas, Vice President, Commercial, South America at IAMGOLD outlines the main considerations and decision-making processes undertaken when mining companies address the challenges of powering remote operations. The interview provides insight in to the personnel involved and the options under consideration. The interview includes details of mine sites in Suriname and Burkina Faso.
This is an interesting study on the energy challenges for grid-tied and remote sites. Faced with the rising costs and inconvenience of diesel, African Barrick Gold first chose to take energy from the local electric supply company. However the utility proved to be unreliable and grid performance issues have now led African Barrick Gold to embrace Read More
Cronimet Power Solutions set the benchmark for renewables developer / mine operations relationships. Cronimet address and overcome the fundamental stumbling blocks and mindset that mine energy buyers have when it comes to renewables: reliability, efficiency and finance. This case study outlines an innovative, turnkey approach via a power purchase agreement with the off-taker.
One of the largest mining companies in the world has integrated solar PV in to its South Africa operations. This case study provides some insight in to the background and challenges of delivering a PV project to a mine in Africa. "When Anglo American decided to embrace solar energy, it wasn’t hoping to solve a specific problem. Read More
As part of a case-study series in the run-up to the Renewables and Mining Summit, we have published an interview with Gold Fields' vice-president of group sustainable development, Duncan Stevens. In the article, Stevens outlines Gold Fields’ energy management and carbon mitigation strategies which include exploring options for renewables integration at various sites. The case study will Read More
This is one of the first examples of the use of remote renewables in a Canadian mine-site. Faced with the increased price uncertainty and logistical issues of transporting diesel to beyond the arctic circle, Rio Tinto's Diavik mine took on the remarkable challenge of developing a wind power project in extreme conditions. This case-studies provides strategic Read More
West African gold producer SEMAFO was invited to help solve the diesel dependency issue faced by operators in Burkina Faso. The business model they came up with was so successful they spun off a renewable energy power producer, Windiga. "Leaders of the company soon realized that they could build a solar plant that would supply 20 megawatts Read More
This case study examines how a new business model and a new application of technology was created by a Chilean-Danish consortium to supply solar thermal power to one of the world's largest copper mining companies. This is an ambitious project that has set a benchmark for good working relationship s and power agreements between renewable energy developers Read More
