Image Credit: Gold Fields, via Linkedin
Components for seven wind turbines destined for a remote gold mine in south-east Western Australia have been unloaded at the Geraldton Port and are now ready for the over 1,000-kilometre road journey to their destination.
South African gold mining company Gold Fields confirmed last week that seven wind turbines destined for its St Ives Gold Mine near Kambalda had arrived at Geraldton Port, with more than 2,000 tonnes of gear including 80-metre-long wind turbine blades that each weigh over 24 tonnes.
St Ives Gold Mine, located in the south-east corner of Western Australia, is one of Australia’s leading gold producers and is the latest Gold Fields mine to add renewable power to its operations.
The $296 million project, announced back in early 2024, will soon host a 42-megawatt (MW) wind farm and a 35 MW solar farm that, together, will power over 70 per cent of the St Ives mine.
When completed next year, the St Ives Renewable Energy Project will become Western Australia’s largest renewable energy project at an existing mine site, and the largest off-grid renewable project in the country.
“We’re excited to have our turbines onshore in Western Australia, marking another significant step towards delivering this industry-leading renewable energy initiative,” said Simon Schmid, principal specialise and project director for Gold Fields.
But first, the wind turbine components need to make it to the mine, which will take two months to complete delivery of all the components, including the 21 wind turbine blades.
“We expect that transporting all components will take about two months as they are moved incrementally from Geraldton Port to St Ives, located 80 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie,” said Schmid.
“People living in and passing through Mid West and Goldfields communities will likely get a glimpse of some of these massive components as they make the journey south-east.”
The long-distance haulage convoys are being managed by RJA Engineered Transportation and got underway on Saturday, September 6.
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