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OPINION

Green gold

could be reality

early 130 years after Paddy Hannan’s famous discovery
Ntriggered a population explosion in Kalgoorlie-Boulder,
gold remains a staple of the West Australian economy.
Last financial year a record $16.5 billion of gold was produced
in WA. More than 34,000 jobs were involved in that production,
which returned more than $400 million in royalties to WA
government revenue.
You could mount an argument that the gold rush that started in
the Goldfields in the 1890s hasn’t really ever stopped.
As much as gold mining has been a constant in WA over all
those years, it’s also been a commodity that has been subject
to considerable change.
Towns have sprung up and disappeared, individual prospectors
have given way to company-owned mines, and old-school
mine shafts have in many cases been replaced with large open
cut pits – most notably in the case of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s vast
Gold operations are also playing a leading role in the work
Super Pit.
being done to trial the suitability of electric vehicles replacing
But for several years now, a more subtle change has been
their diesel equivalents in a mining environment. Evolution
taking place in WA gold mining that has put it at the forefront
Mining Ltd introduced a medium duty, battery-powered vehicle
of our sector’s work to be smarter and cleaner in day-to-day
to transport workers and small loads at its Mungari operations
operations.
in the Eastern Goldfields earlier this year, while St Ives has
Gold mines in WA were some of the first in the State to harness been the site of trials for an electric underground loader and
the potential of renewable energy to change traditional fuel truck.
mixes and reduce emissions on site.
There looks to be a pretty obvious electric pathway from lighter
A shining example is the Gold Fields Australia’s Agnew equipment and vehicles up to the very biggest machinery
mine, where the renewable energy microgrid has won used in mining, as technology and capabilities develop further.
multiple awards, including the prestigious Golden Gecko for Hydrogen also offers enormous potential as a clean industrial
environmental excellence at the Department of Mines, Industry energy source, which WA is well positioned to be a significant
Regulation and Safety’s Resources Sector Awards. global player in.
Agnew’s microgrid is not only the largest of its type in the Yet that may still only be the tip of the iceberg, given the WA
country but marks the first time wind power has been used at mining and resources sector’s strong commitment to achieving
such a large scale on an Australian mine site. a net zero emissions target by 2050.
Its success to date, including a brief period where 95% of the Karora Resources, which operates the Beta Hunt and
operation was powered by renewables, has given Gold Fields Higginsville mines in WA, announced in September that it had
Ltd the confidence to invest in solar at other WA locations – the already achieved carbon neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope
Granny Smith mine in the Northern Goldfields and the world- 2 emissions.
class Gruyere JV with Gold Road Resources Ltd. Feasibility
We might still be some way off seeing the type of future “green”
studies are also under way to see what role renewable energy
gold mines that have been mentioned in some dispatches,
might play at the company’s biggest Australian mine, St Ives,
featuring limited use of carbon offsets and the inclusion of
south of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
renewable hydrogen as a fuel source.
It’s easy to get the sense we’re only still scratching the surface
But given how far the gold industry has come over the past 130
in terms of the full scope of the contribution renewable energy
years, would you really be willing to bet against it eventually
might eventually make to WA’s mining future. Already we’re
happening?
seeing new developments like relocatable solar installations
I certainly wouldn’t.
(Carosue Dam, south of Laverton) and strong investment in
renewables in other commodities – notably some of our major
Rob Carruthers is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the
iron ore mines.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia
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