Robex Resources’ Nampala mine in Mali goes solar

Canada’s Robex Resources (TSXV: RBX) has decided that, for the next 15 years, most of the energy used at its Nampala mine in Mali will come from solar power.

To fulfill this goal, the miner has engaged Vivo Energy, a firm that sells Shell and Engen-branded fuels in Africa.

In a press release, the companies said that the idea is to produce and store solar energy at Nampala. The hybrid production and supply project includes a 3.9 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant and a 2.6 MWh battery which, through the energy management system, will be fully integrated with the mine’s existing thermal power plant to ensure a continuous supply of power to the mine at all times and at a lower cost.

“We are proud to introduce solar power into our mining business. This energy will allow us to reduce our carbon impact by around 60,000 tonnes over 10 years, to have an additional source of energy to stabilize our electricity production and to reduce our production costs, which are already among the lowest in the world,” Benjamin Cohen, Robex Resources CEO, said in the media brief.

“It is expected that this installation will reduce the current cost of mine activities by $0.04 per kilowatt.”

Located in southern Mali, the Nampala mine began commercial production on January 1, 2017.

According to Robex, during its second year of production, the plant processed very low-grade saprolite (0.8 g/t) and achieved a record 1,796,000 tonnes, which allowed recovering 44,946 ounces of gold for a cost per ounce of $643/ounce.