Tag Archives: St Ives

Gold Fields to up the renewable ante at St Ives with A$296 million investment

Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining services, Power supply for mines, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Board of Gold Fields Limited has approved the go-ahead for a A$296 million ($195 million) renewables project at the St Ives mine, in Western Australia, in a move that could boost the operation’s renewable input to over 70%.

The project will comprise:

  • 42 MW of wind power delivered via seven wind turbines;
  • 35 MW of solar power delivered via 60,000 solar panels;
  • A 33 kV renewable energy hub substation; and
  • A 132 kV transmission line.

The project, the largest in the Gold Fields portfolio to date, will provide 73% of the mines electricity requirements and is planned to commence construction in May 2024 and will be operational by the end of 2025.

While previous renewables projects of this nature were built and managed by independent power producers, the St Ives project will be built by Gold Fields, the company stated.

Six out of Gold Fields’ 10 mines and projects are already powered partially by renewable electricity, and, in addition to the St Ives project, the company is studying additional renewable energy projects to meet the company’s decarbonisation commitments.

In 2023, renewable electricity accounted for 17% of electricity consumption across the Gold Fields business, compared with 13% a year earlier, leading to a 5% decline in carbon emissions during the year, the company said. Renewables provided 50% of electricity consumed at the Agnew mine in Australia and 15% of South Deep’s electricity consumption. The Cerro Corona mine in Peru is fully supplied by hydroelectricity, which is classified as 100% renewable. The Windfall project in Canada (which is a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Fields and Osisko Mining) is also supplied by hydroelectricity.

Once operational, the St Ives project will boost renewable energy in Gold Fields’ electricity mix further to approximately 24% and will contribute markedly to achieving the group’s 2030 target of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by a net 30% against its 2016 baseline. St Ives itself will reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by approximately 50% by 2030. Gold Fields has also committed to Net Zero by 2050.

“The St Ives renewables project is a clear and tangible signal to our stakeholders of our decarbonisation commitments,” Gold Fields CEO, Mike Fraser, said. “Investing in renewables has obvious environmental benefits, but it also provides the business with cheaper electricity and offers an enhanced level of energy supply security.”

The St Ives renewables project will reduce electricity costs to a third of the previously projected costs by 2025.

The project has received the required approvals from Traditional Owners of the land, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Western Australian Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Gold Fields has also advanced plans on other key renewables projects in its portfolio, which include:

  • A 11 MW expansion to the current 8 MW solar plant at its Granny Smith mine in Australia;
  • A 7.7 MW photovoltaic solar plant at the Salares Norte mine in Chile to be added to the current diesel generator sets about a year after first gold production. The project has already received the required environmental approvals; and
  • Adding up to six wind turbines to provide approximately 40 MW of power to the South Deep mine in South Africa. This project is currently in feasibility phase and awaiting final environmental approval.

Fraser added: “All our operations continue to investigate the possibility of adding further renewable electricity sources where it makes technical and economic sense to do so. We are also exploring the most capital efficient ways to fund these projects as part of our disciplined capital allocation. Gold Fields is committed to playing its part in mitigating the impact climate change is having on the world.”

MLG Oz’s integrated operating model to be tested at Gold Fields sites

Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

Gold Fields has formally awarded the provision of site services and haulage at its Granny Smith underground gold mine, and open-pit mining services at St Ives for the Swiftsure deposit, to MLG, the mining services provider says.

The letter of award from Gold Fields is subject to both parties reaching agreement on formal terms.

Along with these new opportunities, MLG has also successfully extended its contractual arrangements to support Gold Fields’ Agnew site in a planned cut back of its Barren Lands open pit.

The Granny Smith contract is for a three-year term with an option to extend for another two years, with the contract expected to contribute some A$9 million ($5.9 million) in additional revenue in MLG’s 2024 financial year.

The Swiftsure open-pit mining services at St Ives comes with projected revenue of circa-A$20 million, with the project comprising a single open-pit gold mine incorporating load and haul services. The initial project is expected to be completed in eight months, starting in January.

The planned cut-back of the Barren Lands open pit at Agnew involves supplying the necessary mining equipment to execute drill and blast and load and haul activities, with the works having commenced in November 2023 and expected to continue through to March 2024.

MLG founder, Managing Director and majority shareholder, Murray Leahy, said: “We are delighted to expand our integrated services model across Gold Fields’ portfolio and to bring our site services expertise to their Granny Smith operations. MLG can now provide a consistent approach across all of Gold Fields’ Australian mine sites. In addition, the award of the open-pit mining scope of works at the Swiftsure deposit at St Ives, and the extension of works at the Barren Lands open pit operation at Agnew, acknowledges the breadth of service and overall capabilities across MLG’s integrated operating model.”

Cat R2900 XE

Cat R2900 XE diesel-electric LHDs brought into Gold Fields net zero plan

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

As part of a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from its operations and achieve a ‘net zero’ status by 2050, Gold Fields is investing in three Caterpillar R2900 XE diesel-electric loaders for its underground mines in Western Australia.

The gold miner’s ESG strategy, launched in December 2021, was at the same time embedded as one of three pillars in the company’s strategy. Gold Fields has demonstrated this focus over the last few years, especially when it comes to its efforts to decarbonise its mining operations.

In addition to constructing and commissioning several solar plants, renewable microgrids and low-carbon gas turbines across some of its operations in South Africa and Australia, Gold Fields has been at the forefront of decarbonising the load and haul part of the underground mining cycle.

In 2021, Gold Fields started trialling a Sandvik LH518B 18 t battery-electric underground LHD, in addition to a 50-t-payload battery-electric Z50 truck, also from Sandvik. The machines were put through their paces at the Hamlet North mine, part of the St Ives operation, near Kambalda in Western Australia. The results of these trials were shared with members of the Electric Mine Consortium (EMC).

Rob Derries, Unit Manager: Innovation & Technology at Gold Fields Australia, says the results from testing the loader and truck at St Ives have shown the need for an alternative to assist the battery swap functionality for its local underground mines.

“The depth of our mines and the resultant ramp inclines indicate that a battery swap system alone will be a challenge from an infrastructure or financial perspective when rolling out on a larger fleet-wide basis,” he told IM.

Alongside this work, Gold Fields has trialled a hybrid diesel-electric drive Komatsu WX22H (formerly the Joy 22HD), which uses a Kinetic Energy Storage System to capture and reuse braking energy from each of the four wheels, reducing fuel burn and boosting productivity, according to the OEM and Gold Fields.

In 2021, Gold Fields started trialling a Sandvik LH518B 18 t battery-electric underground LHD

Now, the company has committed to bringing three Caterpillar R2900 XEs into two of its underground mining operations, according to Derries.

Built on the platform of Caterpillar’s most popular underground loader, the R2900G, this LHD features a switch reluctance electric drive system alongside a Cat C15 diesel engine, which offers up to 335 kW of power. The OEM says the machine comes with about 30% increased fuel efficiency compared with the R2900G, with its lower engine revolutions per minute resulting in reduced fuel burn, heat, noise, vibration and exhaust emissions.

Derries said Gold Fields does not consider the R2900 XE a “hybrid” machine given it has no battery or energy storage component on board, but stressed that it still offers the reduced fuel burn and productivity advantages the company is looking for as part of its modernisation strategy.

“From the field-follow trial reports we have seen, it can produce a 35% fuel burn reduction,” he said. “This is why we consider it to be part of our plan to transition our operations to zero emissions, just like the Epiroc machine we are working on.”

Last year, Gold Fields entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Epiroc to develop and test a proof of concept for the 65-t class Minetruck MT65 E-Drive with the aim of having a prototype diesel-electric truck running at the miner’s Granny Smith mine, near Laverton in Western Australia, in late 2024.

Derries says the company is also continuing discussions with all OEM partners on potential battery-electric vehicle deployments at its Australian underground mines, explaining that variations on trolley infrastructure, battery charging and battery swapping were being evaluated.

EMC collaboration builds confidence

The field-follow trials Derries references were integral to Gold Fields making the investment in the Caterpillar diesel-electric vehicles.

“In Australia, there were four field-follow units that Cat sent out, all of which went to EMC member operators,” he said. “The feedback and learnings that came back from these trials, which was shared internally within the consortium, provided the confidence we needed to make the investment decision.”

The EMC is a growing group of leading mining and service companies, all of whom are driven by the imperative to accelerate progress towards the fully electrified zero CO2 and zero particulates mine. In the short time since establishment, the consortium’s membership has grown almost two-fold with over 40 equipment trials in 15 different locations mobilised.

Outside of these Caterpillar R2900 XE field follow units, Westgold Resources took delivery of the first commercial R2900 XE at its Midwest operations in Western Australia, as part of an agreement with WesTrac. The mining company has since agreed to purchase another six of the diesel-electric vehicles.

A separate R2900 XE is due to be delivered to another mining operation in Australia later this year, IM understands.

Derries says Gold Fields has felt the benefits of signing up to the EMC.

“The EMC is a great platform for operators like us to gather information without having to trial everything out there,” he said. “Like the companies that shared their data from the R2900 XE field-follow trials, we shared the learnings from our Sandvik trials – not just our operational performance data.

“We were then able to do a cross check between our battery-electric trial data and the field-follow trials from the Caterpillar machines, giving us the confidence to invest in the three LHDs.”

Derries says the new units are expected to arrive at its operations in the next 12 months.

MLG Oz work rewarded with bigger remit at Gold Fields’ Agnew, St Ives operations

Mine operation news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

MLG Oz says it has been awarded the Barren Lands open-pit mining project assisting the Gold Fields Limited group of companies in the establishment of a new mine at its Agnew operations in Western Australia.

Along with this new scope of works, MLG says it has successfully extended its contractual arrangements to continue to supply integrated site service and haulage support to both the St Ives gold mine and at the Agnew gold mine for a further three years.

At Barren Lands, the open-pit mining contract award with Gold Fields will see MLG Oz develop a new pit through the provision of heavy earthworks. Included within this is a Liebherr 9150 excavator (pictured). The contract is expected to contribute approximately A$15 million in revenue in the 2023 financial year with contractual terms in line with contracts of this nature.

Gold Fields has previously stated that the development of the Barren Lands open pit provides access to potential Barren Lands underground & decline access to Zone 2 and exploration access at the Agnew gold mine.

The renewal and extension of contracts with Gold Fields, meanwhile, will see MLG’s current Agnew operations continue, with the term extended for a minimum three-year period with an additional optional extension period of two years at Gold Fields’ discretion. This award extends MLG’s delivery of integrated site services and haulage activities to Gold Fields’ Agnew operation out to 16 years.

At St Ives, the contract term has been extended for a minimum three-year period with an additional optional extension period of two years at Gold Fields’ discretion. This will extends MLG’s delivery of integrated site services and haulage activities to Gold Fields’ St Ives operation out to nine years.

MLG Founder, Managing Director and majority shareholder, Murray Leahy, said: “The award of the Barren Lands open-pit mining project demonstrates confidence in MLG’s ability to leverage our integrated service offering to drive value for our client base. The addition of open-pit mining, in conjunction with our current integrated service platform, allows MLG’s customer base the opportunity to single source the complete supply chain in an efficient and optimised way. We look forward to integrating the Barren Lands mining project into our wider Agnew operations delivering value for our key client whilst also building growth for our shareholders in one of MLG’s well established long term operations.”

Santos and Gold Fields agree on new gas deal to supply WA mines

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

Santos says it has entered into a new gas supply agreement with Gold Fields for its three gold mines in the state.

The company, Western Australia’s biggest domestic gas supplier, will supply nearly 5.5 PJ of natural gas from its Varanus Island gas plant (pictured) over three years, starting on July 1, 2020, as part of the agreement.

In Western Australia, Gold Fields owns and operates the St Ives open-pit/underground mine, the Agnew underground mine and the Granny Smith underground mine. These have throughput capacities of 4.7 Mt/y, 1.3 Mt/y and 3.5 Mt/y, respectively.

The 56 MW Agnew Hybrid Renewable project recently got up and running at Gold Fields’ Agnew mine. This includes five 110 m wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 140 m, delivering 18 MW; a 10,710-panel solar farm generating 4 MW; a 13 MW/4 MWh battery system; and an off-grid 21 MW gas/diesel engine power plant.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Gallagher, said: “We are delighted Gold Fields has come back to Santos after a short hiatus, reinforcing our position as Western Australia’s biggest supplier of gas to the local market.

“Santos supplies around 40% of the state’s total domestic demand, and we are committed to ongoing investment in developing new gas supplies in Western Australia.

“In these challenging economic times, we are focused on ensuring local gas prices remain competitive for Western Australian businesses over the long term.”