THARISA, a platinum group metal (PGM) and chrome miner, is to cut carbon emissions 30% by 2030 ahead of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050, said BusinessLive citing a company announcement today.
“At Tharisa, we view safety as a core value. The footprint we leave on the broader stakeholder environment is equally as important to us,” Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said in a statement. “As an industry, we must focus on the management and mitigation of mining activities, which by their very nature have an impact on the environment and local communities.”
As part of its efforts, the company would reduce the carbon intensity of fuels used in its truck fleet as vehicles are replaced with alternative fuels including hydrogen and battery electric drivetrains, said BusinessLive.
In addition, major projects in the first phase of emissions reduction will include the introduction of natural gas and biodiesel as fuel components. In addition, the use of solar power generation technology alongside traditional electricity storage capacity and in-house innovations are being investigated.
Companies and businesses in South Africa are increasingly looking to reduce their carbon footprints while the country faces the possibility of being excluded from markets due to the carbon-intensive nature of its exports, said BusinessLive. Last week, synthetic fuels and chemicals group Sasol tripled its target to cut emissions by 2030.
The cost of cutting carbon emissions for South Africa’s precious metal mining companies could be as much as 20% of their market capitalisations. This is according to a report by Nedbank Securities analyst Arnold van Graan who assumed a 30% carbon emission reduction target over 10 years.
Van Graan added that while carbon emission abatement had become a business imperative, it had also “… started to impact the investment case of the companies we cover”.
