Tag Archives: Granny Smith

Perenti’s surface division awarded with A$155.5 million of new contracts

Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Perenti reports its Surface Mining Industry Sector Group (ISG) has been awarded A$155.5 million ($103 million) in new and extended contracts.

The new work, extensions, and expansion of scope is across 10 projects, with highlights including:

  • A three-year contract (with options to extend) for production drilling services with Boggabri Coal Operations (a part of Idemitsu Australia Resources Group) at its Boggabri coal mine in New South Wales, Australia;
  • A three-year contract extension with a major iron ore producer for reverse circulation (RC) and grade control drilling at its Western Australian operations;
  • A 12-month contract extension with Consolidated Minerals to support current mining operations and regional expansion projects (which has mining operations in Australia and Ghana);
  • Expansion of services for a major mining contractor in Queensland, which will double the contract value across the current three-year contract duration;
  • A 12-month extension to existing works at Gold Fields’ St Ives and Granny Smith gold projects, in Western Australia, which involves land and lake rigs for air core, RC and diamond drilling; and
  • An equipment hire agreement with E&P at Gold Fields’ Damang gold mine in Ghana.

Perenti Group Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “We have been targeting a strong pipeline of surface and underground work and I am pleased we continue to convert these opportunities into secured contracts across a range of different projects in both Australia and Africa.

“These latest awards add to $165 million in surface work we announced in December 2019 and the A$200 million contract we recently announced for our Underground ISG.”

Gold Fields goes for low-carbon energy solution at Agnew gold mine in Australia

Environmental, Mine operation news, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gold Fields says its Agnew gold mine, in Western Australia, will become one of Australia’s first mining operations to be predominantly powered by renewable and low-carbon energy following a deal with global energy group EDL.

Gold Fields and EDL have agreed on a A$112 million ($78 million) investment in what the gold miner says is a “world-leading energy microgrid combining wind, solar, gas and battery storage”.

The Agnew mine consists of two underground complexes and one processing plant, with a capacity of 1.3 Mt/y consisting of a three-stage crushing circuit, two-stage milling circuit, gravity circuit and carbon-in-pulp circuit.

The microgrid will be owned and operated by EDL, which will recoup its investment via a 10-year electricity supply agreement with Agnew.

The project, which is already under construction, has the backing of the Australian Government with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) contributing a recoupable A$13.5 million to its construction, according to Gold Fields.

The Agnew microgrid is initially forecast to provide 55-60% of the mine’s energy needs, with potential to meet almost all energy requirements at certain times, Gold Fields said. The Agnew microgrid will consist of five wind turbines delivering 18 MW of power, a 10,000-panel solar farm contributing 4 MW, a 13 MW/4 MWh battery energy storage system, and a 16 MW gas engine power station to underpin supply when required.

EDL said stage one consists of a new off-grid 23 MW power station incorporating 16 MW gas and 3 MW diesel generation and 4 MW photovoltaic solar, which is on track for completion in mid-2019. Stage two includes 18 MW wind generation, a 13 MW battery and an advanced micro-grid control system, with construction recently started and due for completion in 2020.

The hybrid microgrid at Agnew follows the announcement of a microgrid at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine, featuring 20,000 solar panels and a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system planned for completion in the December quarter.

Gold Fields Australia Executive Vice President, Stuart Mathews, said the Agnew hybrid microgrid project reflects the company’s strategic objective to strengthen energy security, optimise energy costs and reduce its carbon footprint through innovation and the adoption of new technologies.

“The ARENA contribution supports and encourages our efforts. We are making staged investments across our mines in Western Australia to significantly ramp up the innovative use of renewables to meet our dynamic and growing load requirements,” Mathews said.

The funding is part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Programme. ARENA CEO, Darren Miller, said the project marks a growing shift in the mining sector’s thinking around powering mine sites.

“The project Gold Fields is undertaking will provide a blueprint for other companies to deploy similar off-grid energy solutions and demonstrate a pathway for commercialisation, helping to decarbonise the mining and resources sector,” Miller said.

Gold Fields says it is embracing innovation and technology across all levels of its mining operations and Mathews said this also extended to its approach to power supply and demand management.

“At Agnew, we will be using instrumentation to detect approaching cloud cover for solar and, potentially in the future, detect changes in wind velocity. Based on this data, the gas power station will have forward-looking systems in place to schedule gas generators in response to forecast changes in the renewable energy supply,” he said.

EDL CEO, James Harman, said the company has seen increasing momentum towards hybrid energy solutions, particularly in remote, off-grid locations. “EDL is pleased to be an active contributor to Australia’s transition to sustainable energy,” Harman said. “Our knowledge and experience from our successful hybrid renewable projects will enable us to provide Agnew with greater than 50% renewable energy over the long term, without compromising power quality or reliability.”

Mathews said: “The configuration of Agnew’s hybrid solution is a first for Gold Fields and is an excellent example of using innovation and technology to improve efficiencies and lower costs. We are fast sharing lessons from this project with our other regions, as part of our global strategic initiatives to improve our security of supply and reduce carbon emissions.”

Gold Fields is the third largest gold producer in Australia. It currently owns and operates three mines in Western Australia and is completing the construction of a fourth, Gruyere, in joint venture with Gold Road Resources.

Bis’ 20-wheel Rexx haul truck up for the challenge at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine

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Rexx, the 20-wheel mine haul truck designed and built by Bis, has been drafted in for a challenging assignment at the Granny Smith gold mine in Western Australia, Bis says.

The Gold Fields-owned mine, near Laverton, identified the dual powered 20-wheel dump truck as being suitable for the task of helping shift thousands of tonnes of waste material out of the Wallaby Pit to a stockpile 15 km away.

Bis CEO, Brad Rogers, said the campaign not only capitalised on Rexx’s strengths, including its versatility and range, but also provided a challenging environment to further test the truck in different conditions.

“Rexx is performing extremely well at the mine, proving its ability to come out of the Wallaby pit with a 160-t payload,” he said. “As part of the testing during the trial, Rexx has also completed numerous hill starts fully loaded, on the incline.”

Rogers said the work at Granny Smith provided a “perfect demonstration” of the range capability of the new truck, with Rexx required to complete round trips of 30 km from the pit to the stockpile location.

He added that Rexx has more than four times the distance capability of competing dump trucks and an on-demand power system that lowers fuel consumption. The vehicle also has the capacity to carry enough fuel for at least two 12 hour shifts, eliminating downtime needed for refuelling.

Granny Smith General Manager, Andrew Bywater, said: “We are embracing innovation and technology across our mining operations and this is a great example of how we can work with our business partners to create advances in the industry. We see this as a real opportunity to explore potential improvements in trucking efficiency, and are encouraged by what we have seen to date.”

The work at Granny Smith follows extensive testing at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin mine where Rexx proved its ability to deliver up to a 30% reduction in operating costs, compared with conventional dump trucks.

The truck has also operated fully loaded in pits below the water table and handled the sticky and boggy conditions with ease, Bis said.

Rogers said the versatility of Rexx, including interchangeable bins, had sparked interest not only in the resources industry – internationally and in Australia – but with potential customers across a range of sectors including construction and civil.

“Rexx is the latest example of how Bis finds the best and inventive ways to haul, transport, handle, process and deliver our customers’ critical commodities,” he said.

Bis has been shortlisted for the Australian Financial Review Most Innovative Company awards, which is set to be announced in August 2019.

Aggreko’s modular li-ion battery system off to Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine

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Aggreko is set to deploy a new mobile and modular energy storage system at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine, in Western Australia, as the temporary power, temperature control and energy services company looks to expand its 10 GW fleet of distributed energy assets.

The deployment of Y.Cube, a fully integrated, ready-to-install lithium-ion battery system built on the expertise of energy storage firm Younicos, which Aggreko acquired in 2017, is all part of Aggreko’s hybrid microgrid solution at Granny Smith, one of the world’s largest renewable energy microgrids powered by more than 20,000 solar panels and backed up by a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system.

In addition to the Granny Smith deployment, Aggreko said the Y.Cube would be used in several African mining projects.

Housed entirely within a standard 20-ft (6.1-m) container, the 1 MW units can be delivered and quickly deployed worldwide, according to Aggreko.

The system can cover a variety of applications from 1 MW up to multi-MW power output and is available in two versions: a 30-minute ‘power’ unit and a 60-minute ‘energy’ unit, the company said.

“The 20-ft container houses batteries, inverters, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), fire protection and auxiliary components. These are tested and pre-assembled by Aggreko experts and controlled by intelligent software,” Aggreko said.

It is designed for a wide ambient temperature range from -20°C to +50°C to match the often-challenging requirements of remote customer sites, the company added.

Dan Ibbetson, Managing Director, Global Products and Technology at Aggreko, said renewable energy is increasingly affordable, but not yet as universally available as it should be. At the same time, energy demand is increasing.

“Battery storage systems offer the flexibility required for safe and stable use of wind and solar power and increase the efficiency of thermal units.”

He added: “In the Y.Cube, we have successfully combined proven battery expertise from Younicos with Aggreko’s containerisation experience. The Y.Cube enables us to provide cheaper, cleaner and smarter energy wherever it’s needed for our customers.

“It is designed to fit seamlessly within the Aggreko existing fleet and can be easily combined with solar and thermal products to provide our customers with the lowest cost of energy. We are now building a fleet of Y.Cubes, which will enable us to quickly deploy on short notice.”

The Y.Cube is available for short-term needs for as little as six months or for periods of years under Aggreko’s “Energy-Storage-as-a-Service” model, the company said. It can also be bundled with Aggreko’s other hardware systems as part of the company’s “Microgrids-as-a-Service” offer.

Karim Wazni, Managing Director, Aggreko Microgrid and Storage Solutions, said: “We’re already seeing considerable interest from a range of sectors and applications.

“One of the most economically attractive propositions is to combine the Y.Cube with natural gas and solar generation in off-grid applications. This could include remote mining sites, in weak grids like islands, or, with gas generators only to provide bridging power – for example in datacentres.”

Aggreko to deliver renewable power microgrid to Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine

Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , ,

Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine is set to install one of the world’s largest renewable energy microgrids powered by more than 20,000 solar panels and backed up by a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system, according to mobile and modular power company Aggreko.

The mining company has contracted the Scotland-based firm to design, build and operate the 8 MW solar power generation system along with the battery system at Granny Smith, which is located east of Laverton in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.

In June, said it was working with Gold Fields on plans to provide 7.3 MW of solar power generation, as well as a 2 MW/1 MWh battery system, to be integrated with the existing gas supply as a hybrid power station.

Gold Fields Executive Vice President Australasia, Stuart Mathews, said: “We are thrilled to reach an agreement with Aggreko for the design, installation and operation of this innovative source of renewable energy which will generate nearly enough power to run the mine’s processing operations.

“We expect the renewable power microgrid will be up and running at Granny Smith by Q4 (December quarter) 2019 and it will be a welcome addition to our suite of on-site energy solutions across other operations which will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint,” he said.

Construction of the renewable energy system is planned to commence in May and, when completed, will be one of the world’s largest hybrid off-grid microgrids, integrated with Aggreko’s existing 24.2 MW natural gas generation.

Aggreko AusPac Managing Director, George Whyte, said the solar, thermal and battery storage assets will be seamlessly integrated and managed by Aggreko’s control software platform – maintaining full system availability and optimising the lifetime of existing thermal assets.

Whyte said: “The solar-plus-battery system is projected to reduce fuel consumption by 10-13% – the equivalent of removing 2,000 cars from the road – and produce about 18 GWh of clean energy per year.

“Gold Fields understands the performance, cost and environmental advantages for their operation, as well as the need to integrate this resource into their system without compromising power supply reliability or mining productivity.”

While the solar photovoltaic (PV) will reduce the need to run thermal generators, the battery plant will provide essential services such as spinning reserve displacement, PV ramp rate control and transient voltage/frequency support.

The current Granny Smith power station was designed and installed by Aggreko in 2016 and the new hybrid power system, combined with a thermal station expansion, will meet the increased daily power needs of 24.2 MW, with 12.2 MW allocated to the Wallaby underground mine and the remaining 12 MW to the processing plant, associated facilities and mining camp, Aggreko said. Granny Smith produced 290,000 oz of gold in 2017.