ANGLOGOLD Ashanti said on Monday it had completed the Tropicana renewables project, described by the miner as the largest hybrid power system in Australia’s mining industry.
“This project will enable a significant reduction in emissions while reducing both diesel and natural gas consumption and improving our overall security of energy supply,” said AngloGold Ashanti CEO Alberto Calderon.
“It’s especially impressive that this large project, in a remote location, was completed safely, on time and on budget, despite the major disruption caused by last year’s flooding.”
The project is for introduction of 61MW of clean energy into the existing power system at Tropicana, a 310,000 ounce a year operation owned by AngloGold Ashanti (70%) and Regis Resources (30%).
It is expected to reduce diesel and gas consumption for power generation by 96% and 50% respectively. This will cut carbon emissions more than 65,000 tons a year on average over the next decade, the company said.
“The project is accretive to Tropicana’s net asset value and has the capacity equivalent to that needed to power between 40,000 and 50,000 average Australian homes each year,” it added.
Last year, AngloGold completed the connection of its Geita mine in Tanzania to the national electricity grid. The national grid is supplied by a significant portion of renewable power, including hydro-electric power.
In 2022, AngloGold rolled out plans for a $1.1bn emissions reduction initiative in which the miner intends to be carbon neutral by 2050. In absolute terms, a reduction in greenhouse gases of 30% is targeted for 2030 in both the Scope 1 and 2 categories.
Scope 1 refers to emissions generated by the mine while Scope 2 covers indirect emissions through the purchase of electricity from third-party providers.
