NGM plans to build 40 megawatts of solar photovoltaic and 100 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems at the Turquoise Ridge mining operations in Humboldt County, and 60 megawatts of solar PV and 148 megawatt-hours of battery storage at the Cortez mining operations in Lander County.
"At Nevada Gold Mines operated by Barrick, we are committed to leading the way in sustainable mining practices," said Henri Gonin, NGM's managing director. "This award from the Office of Clean Energy Development marks a significant milestone in our journey toward decarbonizing our operations.
"By integrating solar power and energy storage at our facilities, we aim to not only reduce emissions but also set a replicable example for the mining industry to achieve net-zero operations by 2050," Gonin said.
"We're excited to be part of the solution and look forward to the positive impact this project will have on our community and the environment."
By utilizing onsite clean electricity generation and storage, the project will displace emissions from fossil fuel-based onsite generation and electricity purchased from the grid. A project summary from Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations said NGM's goal is to lower mining operation emissions by 2 million tons of carbon dioxide over the project's lifetime.
"Reducing mining emissions is critical as the nation ramps up its domestic supply chain to meet mineral demands in the clean energy, medical, aerospace, and advanced technology industries," the project summary said.
The office made an initial award of $14.6 million to NGM for the project's first phase. The total cost of phase one is expected to be around $29.3 million. During phase one, NGM will work on project engineering, refine the business plan and begin permitting activities. NGM will also engage with impacted communities, tribes and workforces to discuss the project.
Phase one began in November and is expected to last around 16 months. At the end of phase one, there will be award negotiations for additional funding from the federal office for the next phase of the project.
This project will add to the renewable energy production that is already taking place at NGM operations.
NGM held an Aug. 16 ribbon cutting to announce the completion of the construction of the second and final phase of the 200-megawatt TS Solar Power Plant, which the company said has the capacity to produce about 17% of NGM's annual power demand while potentially reducing emissions by about 234 kilotons of carbon dioxide per year.
Mark Bristow, Barrick's president and chief executive officer, said the TS Solar Power Plant will reduce NGM's total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 8% against a 2018 baseline.
"The solar facility is one of many initiatives to reduce our reliance on carbon-based electricity sources," Bristow said. "We are also in the process of modifying NGM's TS Power Plant to use cleaner burning natural gas as a fuel source.
"Additionally, in 2023, we began introducing electric vehicles to our light vehicle fleet which included the required charging infrastructure in Elko and at the main mines Carlin , Cortez, Turquoise Ridge and Phoenix as well as here at the TS Power Plant."
NGM said the TS Power Plant is being converted to co-fire capability, and studies are continuing into geothermal energy sources.
The funding awarded to NGM for its new solar projects at the Turquoise Ridge and Cortez operations are part of the federal office's "Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land." It asked for applications demonstrating a range of technologies in diverse regions of the country "to catalyze the next generation of clean energy projects on mine land."
This March, the office announced the selection of five projects for award negotiations. These projects included NGM's "Decarbonizing Gold Mines in Nevada" solar project, coal-to-solar projects in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, a coal-to-pumped storage hydropower project in Kentucky and a copper recovery project in Arizona. Since then, funding has been announced for all the projects except the Arizona project, which is still in negotiations.
The proposed Arizona project is at Freeport McMoran's Morenci and Safford copper mines. This project includes exploring and developing an onsite direct-use geothermal resource to support leaching operations with clean energy.
A summary of the Arizona copper project from the federal office said, "This project aims to demonstrate a way to use naturally occurring, geothermal heat to increase copper yields from already mined material. The project could increase copper recovery by 25 million pounds annually with the potential to increase recovery up to 40% — depending on the geothermal resources."
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