Global news and projects
that the Porgera Joint Venture continues to
deliver benefits to all stakeholders.”
Barrick and Zijin each own a 47.5%
interest in the Porgera Joint Venture through
Barrick (Niugini). Mineral Resources Enga
owns the remaining 5% interest.
Argentina
Patagonia puts projects on ice
Gold and silver mining company Patagonia
announced that it will shut the Lomada
de Leiva mine in Argentina, and that Cap
Oeste, its other mine in Argentina, will be
placed on care and maintenance, due to
lower-than-expected production volumes
from both operations.
Lomada de Leiva was reopened at the end
of November 2018, with a view to re-treating
the ore previously placed on the heap leach
pad. This ore had not been crushed at the
time and the objective was to crush the
ore to recover additional contained ounces.
The company was estimating recovery of
approximately 10 000 ounces of gold (oz Au)
over a 12-month period. Current production
is below management expectations and is not
sufficient to cover operating costs.
Cap Oeste was closed in July 2018 and for
the remainder of 2018, operations consisted
solely of reprocessing of the ore previously
placed on the heap leach. The reprocessing
of ore was expected to cease in May 2019
following production of an estimated 6 300
oz AuEq (gold equivalent). However, given
that current monthly production is about
1 000oz, which is not expected to increase
over coming months, the company has
decided to put the operation on care and
maintenance basis.
Canada
Nemaska terminates supply
agreement
Canadian-headquartered Nemaska
Lithium announced that it has terminated
a multi-year supply agreement with Livent
Corporation that would cost the Quebec
company up to USD20-million to settle.
The deal with Livent, spun out of US
lithium major FMC Corporation last year,
saw Nemaska provide up to 8 000 tonnes per
year (28 000 tonnes in total during the term
of the contract) of lithium carbonate starting
in April last year.
According to a recent press release,
Nemaska told Livent it might have no
option but to terminate the agreement and
repay Livent the USD10-million it received
in April 2017 plus a similar amount as a
termination fee.
Nemaska said despite good faith
negotiations, it was unable to reach a
mutually satisfactory outcome with Livent
and that Livent is seeking arbitration, which
Nemaska will vigorously defend.
Nemaska is developing the lithium mine,
in the James Bay region and Shawinigan
processing plant north of Montreal, aiming
to put Canada on the global lithium
production map.
Nemaska has already spent more than
USD138-million on the Whabouchi mine
and mill, and another USD67.3-million
for the plant in Shawinigan. The additional
funding is largely related to installation and
indirect costs. Construction and purchasing
at both sites are on schedule, according to
Nemaska.
Australia
Solar for Granny Smith
Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine is set to install one of the world’s largest
renewable energy microgrids powered by more than 20 000 solar panels and backed
up by a 2MW/1MWh battery system.
Gold Fields has contracted mobile and modular power company Aggreko
to design, build, and operate the 8MW solar power generation system along
with the battery system at Granny Smith, which is located east of Laverton in
Western Australia’s Goldfields region.
Gold Fields executive vice-president Australasia, Stuart Mathews, says
the renewable energy microgrid is part of Gold Fields’ vision of leadership in
sustainable gold mining.
“We expect the renewable power microgrid will be up and running at Granny
Smith by quarter four of 2019 and it will be a welcome addition to our suite of
on-site energy solutions across other operations, which will enable us to reduce our
carbon footprint,” says Matthews.
Construction of the renewable energy system is planned to commence in May
and, when completed, will be one of the world's largest hybrid off-grid microgrids
and integrated with Aggreko’s existing 24.2MW natural gas generation.
Aggreko AusPac managing director, George Whyte, says that the solar-
plus-battery system is projected to reduce fuel consumption by 10–13% — the
equivalent of removing 2 000 cars from the road — and produce about 18GWh of clean energy per year.
While the solar PV will reduce the need to run thermal generators, the battery plant will provide essential services such as spinning reserve
displacement, PV ramp rate control, and transient voltage/frequency support.
The current Granny Smith power station was designed and installed by Aggreko in 2016 and the new hybrid power system, combined with a
thermal station expansion, will meet the increased daily power needs of 24.2MW, with 12.2MW allocated to the Wallaby underground mine and
the remaining 12MW to the processing plant, associated facilities, and mining camp.
Visit the #MTEexpo site for the 2019 Expo Calendar
www.MTEexpo.co.za
www.miningmirror.co.za
APRIL 2019 MINING MIRROR [13]