PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Zinc miner New Century Resources is looking at solar solutions for its Century mine, in Queensland.
The company on Monday announced that it had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ASX-listed APA Group for the supply of up to 8 MW of solar power to the Century Mine from the Mica Creek solar farm, which is currently under construction.
Under the MoU the parties will work together on additional new renewable generation opportunities in the region with the aim of further reducing carbon emissions and providing long term clean energy supplies with price certainty.
“We are delighted to be working with the APA Group on identifying opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity of the Century mine and of the broader North West minerals province,” said New Century MD Patrick Walta.
“In 2021, New Century set out an ambition for transparently reporting on our environmental and social governance performance through our sustainability report and for improving the way our operations interact with the environment and with society.
“The MoU with the APA Group represents a milestone in our efforts to address the carbon intensity of our Century operations and to reducing operational costs at Century through cooperative endeavours with our suppliers.”
Walta noted on Monday that combining this new renewable solar energy generation with the current supply from the highly efficient Diamantina power station complex, will result in a reduced average delivered cost of power to Century while materially reducing the associated carbon emissions.
Further cost management will be achieved through New Century retaining the associated Large-scale Generation Certificates from the purchased solar power.