A gold mining operation in Ontario will be powered by a natural gas-fired 22 MW on-site power plant in the near future.
Finnish technology group Wärtsilä announced this month it received an order from Argonaut Gold Inc. The gas-fired engines will support Argonaut’s Magino project currently under construction.
The order includes four Wärtsilä 34SG gas engines, electrical equipment, auxiliaries and plant commissioning duties. The Magino power plant is expected to enter operations in 2023.
Caterpillar deploying Battery-Electric Haulage Vehicles to Newmont Gold Mines by 2026
Subscribe to EnergyTech's free Newsletter for regular Insights into the C&I Energy Transition
Power reliability and heat rate efficiency are “important factors for mining operations where power availability is absolutely essential and fuel costs are very significant,” Jon Rodriquez, director of engine power plants, North America, for Wärtsilä Energy.
Natural gas-powered power plants emit less than half of the carbon emissions of coal. So far, Wärtsilä has supplied about 620 Mw of power capacity to mining operations in North America, the company.
The engines can combust 100 percent synthetic carbon-neutral methane and methnol and can be adapted on blends with hydrogen, which does not burn a carbon emission, according to reports.
In 2021, Argonaut Gold generated its record annual production of 244,156 gold equivalent ounces and revenue of more than $436 million, according to its annual earnings report. Its construction capital projection on the Magino mine is about $250 million.
-- -- --
(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can reached at [email protected]).