Mining companies are aggressively pursuing decarbonisation at their operations, with a myriad of different strategies, and varying timelines across the spectrum of miners, but with the same end-goal of reducing carbon emissions and ultimately achieving net-zero operations.

This was indicated by speakers during the Energy and Mines Africa Virtual Summit on February 22.

Providing some background, juwi Renewable Energies Europe, the Middle East and Africa hybrid and offgrid development head Peter Drager said mining operations globally were looking to decarbonise and were setting tangible carbon reduction targets and undertaking strategies that would be monitored by the market.

He said the first stage in this process was the deployment of renewable technology, which was usually readily available. 

Drager said changes in market conditions in Africa had resulted in a focus on renewable energies for mines, with 2 GW of renewable energy procurement either under way or in development.

He noted that the decarbonisation efforts were being driven by environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments (and actions) from mining companies; regulatory changes for grid-connected projects; a reduction in the cost of renewable energy and battery storage; and uncertainty in conventional energy system reliability and costs.

Drager said that, as the cost of electricity from renewable energy and battery storage was lower than that of conventional generation, the electricity market for on-grid and offgrid mines was rapidly changing.

He highlighted that renewable energy solutions could improve the ESG profiles of companies without impacting on the cost of production.

Drager emphasised that there was no one-size-fits-all approach for renewable energy for miners, but, rather, this needed to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

However, he noted that a combination of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind and/or battery storage could provide the lowest cost energy solution for most operations.

GOLD MINERS
Three gold miners shared their decarbonation journeys and roadmaps.

Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith said the group’s emission reduction journey began in 2016, when its decarbonisation journey began in earnest, and, therefore, that was the base year for group targets.

By 2020, the company had invested $400-million in completed energy projects, achieved 10% absolute and 5% net group emissions reductions to date and had 5% renewables in the group energy mix in 2021.

Griffith explained that owing to the different, diverse geographic locations that the group operates in, it did not have a uniform approach. Rather, it had group guidelines and strategies, which were then adjusted on a regional basis.

In South Africa, at Gold Fields’ South Deep gold mine, the group expects to have 25% of the mine’s power provided for by a 50 MW solar power plant that is currently under construction and slated for completion by the end of the year.

Griffith said that, looking ahead at the group’s milestones for decarbonisation, cognisance must be paid to the fact that it was aiming to increase its mining production targets, which would drive up emissions. Therefore, to ensure that it prevented this, required initiatives, he indicated.

These include integration into strategy, business planning processes and capital programmes; capital investments; an increased investment in renewables and a decrease in the reliance on fossil fuels; and operational efficiencies.

Gold Fields’ 2030 target is 50% absolute emission and 30% net emission reductions from its 2016 baseline. By 2050, it is targeting net zero.

Griffith said the group was aware its initiatives were not enough to achieve this, and that it would therefore be exploring stretch initiatives to offset the anticipated growth in emissions to reach these targets. For example, this included getting South Deep to 100% green electricity. 

Meanwhile, Pan African Resources CEO Cobus Loots said his company's decarbonisation journey began about five years ago.

Owing to the location of its projects, the company saw the greatest potential in investing in solar power, and therefore was focused on this, with at least 30 MW of solar plants to be completed in the next 30 months or so.

Centamin CEO Martin Horgan said his company's approach was twofold. Firstly, the focus was on developing a corporate framework that focused on how it ran the business, with ESG and decarbonisation being part of that.

Once that was understood, the second part entailed operationalising and implementing the framework at mine sites.

He said the company was fortunate in that Egypt, where its Sukari mine was located, was an ideal location for solar projects, owing to its high solar irradiation levels, as well as a wealth of partners and projects to choose from.

Horgan said Centamin’s review of the business identified opportunities in solar and other renewables. Importantly, he highlighted that these showcased a very good business case, with investments in decarbonisation making good business sense and contributing to the business, with this being a notable learning for the company over the past 18 months.

He said this had been key to Centamin’s journey in ensuring that decarbonisation was not an afterthought when making business decisions, but, rather, central to the business.

Meanwhile, diversified miner Anglo American carbon neutrality group head Pierre Herben said the group’s decarbonisation journey began two years ago, with the ambition to be carbon neutral by 2040.

Since then, he informed, the group had developed a strategy to achieve this, based on several levers.

Herben elaborated that the group was taking an ecosystem approach, whereby it pursued offgrid sites for its projects, which would then be connected to the grid. Therefore, this would entail working with the grid operator in the region to understand how it could synchronise renewable energy with the grid.

Moreover, this entails multiple waves of projects of transformation in each region of operation.

Once this is achieved, Anglo would look at the value chain, especially for platinum group metals, to see how collaboration could get more out of this ecosystem, he pointed out.

RENEWABLE PROJECTS
As alluded to, renewable technologies are generally seen as the first step for mines in the decarbonisation process.

One example of this is B2Gold, which is increasing the proportion of renewable energy used at its operations.

For example, at its Otjikoto mine, in Namibia, the company has been operating the world’s first autonomous hybrid solar and heavy fuel oil (HFO) power plant, which has prevented about 34 000 t of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from entering the atmosphere, since commissioning in 2021.

Following this success, B2Gold built a similar power plant at its Fekola mine in Mali, which is now at full production and one of the largest offgrid hybrid solar and HFO solar plants in the world.

Another example comes from Ivanhoe Mines, which is enjoying much success from the use of hydropower at its Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the location ideally suited to this.

Presenting, Ivanhoe Mines corporate development VP Alex Pickard said the company’s Platreef platinum group metals project in the Limpopo province of South Africa, presented more of a challenge, as it could accommodate for hydropower in the same way.

Moreover, he said that the majority of power in the country came from coal-fired grid power, even for miners. Therefore, the journey to net zero in South Africa for Ivanhoe would be longer.

Pickard said the company was aiming to transition to solar power for Platreef over time. At a later stage, green hydrogen may also become an option.

He highlighted that a key thing the company needed to work on now was getting solar into a 24-hour operation, which involved investing in grid-scale battery technology.

While this long-term process at Platreef is undertaken, the company will not be sitting on its laurels.

Rather, Pickard informed that, from day one, when production began in 2024, it would be using an electric fleet of mining machinery underground, rather than diesel-powered equipment, to ensure cleaner operations.

To charge this fleet, Ivanhoe will be installing a 5 MW solar farm on surface, slated for availability within the next year, so that from day one of operation, its underground operations will be on a net-zero basis.

In the longer term, it will be looking to transition to own electricity generation, away from grid-tied coal-fired power.