MINING REFINING

Gold Fields expands solar farm at Australian mine

Tue Aug 27 2024

JSE- and NYSE-listed Gold Fields is expanding its solar farm at its Granny Smith mine in Western Australia to reduce the site’s energy costs and carbon intensity.

Granny Smith, located south of Laverton, will now have a total of 19 MW of solar capacity – an increase of 11 MW – as well as additional capacity through a battery energy storage system.

Upon completion, scheduled for early 2025, the expansion will enable 21% of the mine’s energy requirements to be generated by renewable sources.

Granny Smith general manager Mark Glazebrook welcomed the expansion of the solar farm and battery storage system. “The expanded hybrid power station not only makes our operation more cost efficient and improves energy reliability, it also demonstrates our commitment to accelerate renewable usage across all Gold Fields sites.”

Granny Smith’s solar farm and its new expansion are built and operated by energy solutions provider Aggreko, which has worked with Gold Fields since 2016. This expansion is part of Gold Fields’ commitment to decarbonise its global operations and reduce its environmental impact, with a target of net-zero emissions by 2050. 

Source: https://www.miningweekly.com/