The second day of the Power and Mining digital dialogue saw different speakers explain what and how technology solutions are giving mines more options to decarbonise their energy profiles.
Jason Brewer, Marula Mining CEO, said establishing a lithium mine in the Northern Cape is leading to interesting energy discussions around the boardroom table. If Marula Mining wants to tout their eventual commodity as a greenly sourced one, they have to procure a renewable energy source to power their mine. While they could readily tap into Eskom’s grid, that is not the most energy secure or green option.
“Kenya is one of the best countries to operate in ITO of their power supply with geothermal and wind. It’s one of the few counties in the world that has met the Paris Agreement. If I could bring Kenya’s power to the Northern Cape, job done. But it doesn’t really work that way,” said Brewer.
For the lithium mine, the mining/investment company is looking at options from wheeling with an IPP to tapping into the Southern African Power Pool or building their own power plant. But, as all three speakers explained, the technology solution they eventually embrace has to be based on that mine’s specific profile.
Data-driven approach
Rumisha Motilal, Commercial Director of Mining at Gilbarco Veeder-Root MEA said they focus on digital solutions. This has seen them create app dashboards for mines to get to the nitty gritty of many business aspects. This ranges from own fuel consumption to detailed their ESG profiles. Data gathering is understood to be integral to business development. But, they don’t see enough skilled personnel at mines able to analyse the information.
“Data really transitions beyond ESG, its about overall productivity, digitalisation and driving results and value into mining,” said Motilal.
“We have seen a lot of deploying in machine learning, AI, drones deployment. Lots of attention on that, but not to the analytics of the data being collected,” explained Motilal. She said if a company did not monitor the impact of measures such as ESG, they would have great difficulty in compiling a useful and detailed investor profile. “This is where government comes into play. We need to manage our carbon emissions and need ESG profiles to become available that are attractive to foreign investment,” she explained.
Technology solutions need to be South African-led
Chanda Nxumalo, Harmattan Renewables Director, put on her SAPVIA chair hat when she explained how the mining industry could help the Association advocate for localisation of the manufacturing sector.
SAPVIA launched a study last week into the localisation potential for solar PV across the value chain and she reminded the audience that it isn’t onlysolar modules that needed. “There are different components and mining supply chains, what can be manufactured in-country,” ask Nxumalo.
“Under the REIPPPP programme there is a specific local content designation for local technologies. The goal is to promote local manufacturing capacity. So, SAPVIA are happy to work with individual mines and share the study, look at the longer-term strategy. It’s going to require private sector, government, Minerals Council SA and SAPVIA to work on a long-term plan,” said Nxumalo.
Today (Wednesday) the Power and Mining Digital Dialogue session Anticipating Storage, presented by Enlit Africa, ESI Africa and Mining Review Africa, sees Enlit Africa head of content Claire Volkwyn speak to SAESA spokesperson Jo Dean and Bushveld Energy head of deployment Frank Spencer about the different battery energy storage technology is making to self-generation of power at a mine.
