This is the article about Renewables and Mining quadrant to organise this marketplace

1. AUSTRALIANMINING 10 AUGUST 2017
INDUSTRY COMMENT
T
he world of mining hides
some of the greatest
engineering wonders for
all types of renewables.
Shall we look at some
examples by technology,
beginning with geothermal, like
the amazing Iceland plants for the
smelting of Rio Tinto’s aluminium
and gold production at Newcrest’s
Lihir Mine in Papua New Guinea.
Looking at wind energy, mining
records the highest facility in the
world (4000 metres) in a Barrick Gold
mine in Argentina and the world’s
highest latitude wind plant, at the
Diavik diamond mine in Canada.
As for solar PV energy, mining
registered the top facility in 2006,
a German lignite mine closure (6
MWp), and in 2016 with the Indian
mining group Adani (648 MWp), and
the largest industrial thermal solar
plant, with storage in Gabi’s Codelco
copper mine.
Elsewhere, mining consumes 60
per cent of Latin America's solar
PV energy.
In developing corporate social
responsibility (CSR), Freeport
McMoran financed the largest
off-grid facility composed by solar
PV, small wind, solar thermal
cogeneration and batteries at the
border of Chile and Bolivia (Ollagüe
community). There are more than
500 MW of solar and wind plants for
mine closures in the United States.
For hydropower, let's take the
example of miner Vale, which
consumes 4 per cent of Brazil’s
total electricity consumption.
Another curious examples is in
Arequipa (Peru), where a miner
built a hydroelectric plant in a
volcano crater.
Moving on to bioenergy, we find
mining trains in Brazil running on
biodiesel or in the case of Minera
Tres Valles in Chile, a 24/7 copper
producer using only biomass
electricity, or the South African case
of marine biodiesel production for
commodity shipments.
Finally, energy storage, for more
than 120 years there have been
hydro energy storage works in the
United Kingdom in abandoned
quarries and currently there are
new developments in abandoned
open pit and underground mines in
four continents.
And what about lithium-ion
batteries? We can quote Sandfire
Resources’ DeGrussa mine in
Australia, the world's largest off-grid
hybrid facility.
How to define and organise this
kaleidoscope of installations?
r4mining led a study to determine
this sophisticated market and we
concluded this puzzle was composed
by four pieces, based on two criteria:
the business model approach and the
target direction of the electricity. We
named it the Business & Power Flow
Quadrant (BPFQ).
1. The Business Flow Duality:
facilities based on “mining
business model” or “power
(utilities) business model
2. Electricity Flow Duality: flows
into the mine or out of the mine.
The four segments of the BPFQ
based on the previous criteria are:
A. Renewables FOR Mining
(R4M): Renewables for mining self-
consumption
• Mining FOR Renewables (M4R):
Renewables for mining CSR
• Renewable TO Mining (R2M):
Mining consumption from
renewable utilities
• Mining TO Renewables (M2R):
Mining utilities for renewables.
A. Renewables for mining self-
consumption (R4M)
R4M considers the cases involving
the core mining business model with
the power flow to the mine, in other
words, renewable production for self-
consumption.
We can find facilities on-grid
and off-grid. This segment defines
the priority market. Most of the
examples quoted in the beginning of
the article belong to R4M segment.
B. Renewables for mining corporate
social responsibility (M4R)
M4R describes cases where
renewable power flows out of the
mines but within the “mining
business model” where CSR
is included.
M4R also covers facilities in
mine closure and reclamation and
investment, as well as third part
project investments to mitigate
mining carbon footprint.
C. Renewable utilities for mining
consumption (R2M)
R2M represents cases where
renewables power the mines using a
“utility business model”. We found
the best example in the Chilean-
Peruvian mining region where 11 of
the 13 Latin American large solar PVs
evacuate power into the SING grid,
which serves the 85 per cent of their
production to mining customers.
Similar effects can be observed
in other mining regions around the
globe, such as Nevada (US) or South
Africa. Most of the renewables for
mines’ “hidden” facilities belong to
the R2M segment.
D. Mining power companies for
renewables (M2R)
The M2R segment uses the
“utility business model” where
electricity flows out of the mine.
This is the “hidden” market where
coal and bituminous sands mines
are linked to utility companies,
with good examples in India, China
and Indonesia that produce coal
but invest in solar energy to sell
public electricity.
We can also find other companies
divided into two business units,
one mining and the other an
energy company. This is the case
of Canada’s Alterra Power and
PanAmerican Silver Corp.
Finally, other mines integrated in
the iron and steel industry develop
subsidiaries of solar and wind energy.
Valid examples are Vale (Brazil), Tata
(India) or CAP Minera (Chile).
BPFQ in the Peruvian market
When applying to a specific market,
like Peru, we can see the big picture
approach. The total renewables
and mining market is 392.2 MWp,
divided in three 130MW segments.
The BPFQ offers support to
professionals to:
1. Improve market size and segments
measurements
2. Increase knowledge for market
forecast trends
3. Support renewable business
development professionals
4. Accelerate the transition of mining
to low carbon society. AM
Arnoldus Mateo van den Hurk Mir, Ph
D, is a mining renewables expert for
r4mining, based in Spain.
THE QUADRANT OF MINING AND
RENEWABLES
ARNOLDUS MATEO VAN DEN HURK MIR FROM R4MINING LOOKS AT THE GROWING PRESENCE OF RENEWABLE
ENERGY IN THE GLOBAL MINING INDUSTRY.
BPFQ: Simplified Nomenclature
MINING Business Model
UTILITY Business Model
power flows
OFF
the Mine
power flows
ON
the Mine

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