Green gold: Wind and solar to deliver 80 pct of power needs for huge new mine

Gold mining company Bellevue expects to obtain a premium for its product after signing a power deal that will see 80 per cent of the power needs of a big new mining project in Western Australian to be delivered by wind and solar.

Bellevue has struck a 15-year power deal with Zenith Energy that will combine a gas fired power station, wind, solar and battery storage.

Wind and solar are expected to provide up to 80 per cent of the facility’s overall power needs, including mining and processing, and 100 per cent of its needs during times of high renewables, when the gas and diesel units will be turned off.

The mining company has deliberately designed its processing circuit to time shift its power use to times of low cost and zero emissions wind and solar. It aims to have the lowest greenhouse gas intensity of any major Australian gold project and expects to get a premium for its “green gold” product because of it.

“The high utilisation of renewable energy in the power station and the flexibility to time-shifting activities with renewable energy availability is central to our goal to be Australia’s first net-zero gold producer,” said Bellevue managing director Darren Stralow.

“As well as being environmentally responsible, this approach could see Bellevue receive a premium price for its gold.”

The Bellevue project, which expects to start production in the second half of the year, is located in WA’s Eastern Goldfields, not far from the Agnew gold mine that pioneered the use of wind, solar and battery storage at an off grid site, a project partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

It is also in the same region as Liontown’s Kathleen Valley lithium project, where Zenith is building the largest off-grid hybrid renewable microgrid in the country, with 30MW of wind and 16MW of solar to be supported by a 17MW/19MWh battery, 27MW of gas generation, and 5MW of diesel standby.

That project will deliver around 60 per cent of that mine’s needs. The Bellevue mine will have 85MW of capacity made up of 24MW of wind, 19MW of solar, 15MW/33MWh of battery storage, and 30MW thermal (gas and diesel).

“It’s a big capital outlay, but because we have a long mine life we can make it work,” Stralow told RenewEconomy. He said the overall “levellised cost of electricity” would be about the same, but “we are doing it because it is the right thing to do.”

Many big mining projects are now looking to use mostly wind and solar power, and time shifting production and processing to times of high renewables. They do this because it is much cheaper than using gas or diesel, and low emissions are now important in global supply chains.

Bellevue has also joined the Electric Mine Consortium that consists of 20 ASX-listed and private mining and services companies whose aim is to further decarbonise the industry.

It has also executed a refining agreement with ABC Refinery under which Bellevue’s gold can be refined separately. This will enable Bellevue’s gold to be marketed as a ‘green’ product, reflecting its net-zero status, which will in turn open the door to Bellevue receiving a premium price for its gold.

Construction of the power station is already under way, with the earthworks and concrete foundations for the thermal station complete.