Company insight From point A to B
Robert Dotson, business development manager for mining – west at Aggreko, advises on how to transition to meet ESG goals.
A gold-mining exploration project in Canada needed an affordable, low-emissions way to power its activities for five months.
ining is a resource-intensive industry, requiring a lot of power for heavy machinery and general operations. At the same time, mineral resources are not often conveniently located near the infrastructure needed, such as electrical grids, for mining sites to function. This means relying on temporary, modular power sources that can properly meet the energy demands of a project. As a result, the industry has traditionally relied on generators, which are typically ageing diesel models. Today, these models are inefficient and in conflict with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals companies have set. At the same time, many of the sustainable technology solutions available can’t support operations in remote, off- grid mining locations.
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The solution? Leverage technologies that produce lower emissions and run more efficiently, reducing a project’s
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overall carbon footprint. As the industry transitions from traditional fossil fuel energy to renewable, clean energy sources, newer generator models can help companies reach their ESG milestones by allowing them to establish more sustainable operations without the prohibitive upfront costs required of other technologies.
Going for gold below zero Recently, a gold-mining exploration project in Canada needed an affordable, low-emissions way to power its activities for five months. The operation was going to be temporary; however, any power source deployed had to withstand temperatures as low as -30°C. With the rising cost of diesel at the time, the mine operator needed a lower-cost solution. Taking the project’s remote location into consideration, a virtual pipeline was established, connecting the site to a temporary compressed natural gas (CNG)
power plant. The virtual power plant was set up by installing two 300kW natural gas generators, with a 60kW diesel generator to provide peak load support as needed. From there, CNG was regularly trucked to the mining site to keep things running smoothly.
By implementing this alternative energy solution, the company was able to save nearly $60,000 per month in fuel costs. The company was also able to significantly reduce the project’s emissions by switching to a more efficient gas power. As a result, the project was able to meet local regulations, reduce its carbon footprint and save money.
Getting greener to keep EVs moving To meet the growing demand of the electrical vehicle market, another mining company developed a way to get battery- grade lithium within a few weeks instead of the typical timeline of over a year. However, to get a permit for the plant,
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