DISCUSS RENEWABLES PLANS
Renewable energy is already becoming mainstream for the mining industry but now the key question is: when will high-penetration renewables become business as usual for powering mines? According to Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada, this next step involves thinking about new ways to configure a mine. Instead of adopting renewable energy piecemeal, The De Beers Group is looking to radically change how they approach the construction of new projects. “For new assets that are coming online, we are looking at radically different ways of configuring mine sites,” says Truter. “We are considering different ways of mining with a much smaller footprint, and we’ve made a lot of progress in that regard.” “We’ve just acquired an asset up in Baffin Island, which is quite a remote part of northern Canada,” he continues. “Without a shadow of a doubt, that asset will be radically different from the normal mining paradigm in the way we build it and the way it’s eventually run.” The De Beers group currently has in place Programme Terra, a sustainability target that would see them reduce their overall energy usage by eight percent by 2020. De Beers Canada has already invested in connecting it’s Victor Mine in Ontario to the local hydroelectric gird and using heat capture technology for its Gahcho Kué operation in the Northwest Territories. As Truter points, the current focus is on new projects and the creation of more energy efficient operations with potential to move to high penetration renewables. “When it comes to remote operations, if you can avoid having to do things like building roads or putting in a whole lot of infrastructure then that’s where the real savings come from,” he adds.
PRICE IS DRIVING APPETITE The appetite for higher penetration renewables is being driven by price. “For the mines who are on a grid, the cost of power can be as much as 10 cents a kilowatt hour and that’s probably going to increase by 10 or 12 percent every year,” notes John Lindsay, Senior Vice President of Project Development for Dundee Precious Metals (DPM). “We’re now seeing some solar providers offering less than 5 cents a kilowatt hour, significantly cheaper than the traditional grid cost, and dramatically lower than any off-grid mine using diesel or HFO fuelled generation.” In order to take advantage of the cost-saving potential of solar power generation, DPM is currently analyzing solar options for its copper smelting installation in Tsumeb, Namibia which is grid-connected. “If we were able to exploit renewable energy to reduce our power costs by, say, 50 percent, that could result in an 8 to 10 percent reduction in our total operating costs, which is quite significant,” reports Lindsay. “For [off-grid] mines who are generating their own power, the potential cost savings could be quite a bit higher. They might have the potential to cut their overall operating costs by 20 percent or more by introducing solar or wind generation.” High-penetration renewables provides mines with an opportunity to hedge against volatile and increasing energy costs. “In the last 5 to 10 years, energy has become a top five cost for mines,” points Bruce Armitage, Energy Manager for Tahoe Resources. “It’s usually second only to labor for most mines and milling facility. A 100% renewable powered operation would cause energy costs to fall out of the top five costs and potentially the top 10 in terms of costings for the mining industry.”
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