Owl houses erected at the Sibanye-Stillwater game farm, in partnership with the Owl Rescue Centre.
Springbok Solar Plant, Free State, South Africa.
and 75 MW Springbok solar PV projects are already operational, with a mix of additional solar and wind projects planned to come onstream between 2026 and 2028. The positive outcomes of increasing renewable energy usage include: • lower Scope 1 and 2 emissions, • reduced exposure to Eskom supply disruption and tariff volatility, • improved resilience for pumping/ treatment systems, • better economics for deep-level mechanised mines, • a stronger platform for electrification and climate adaptation. “Regarding biodiversity, companies are increasingly embedding site-level plans rather than relying only on broad policy statements. For South African gold mines, the most useful signal is whether biodiversity actions are linked to watercourse rehabilitation, wetland work, closure design, tailings rehabilitation and post-mining land use. Gold Fields’
Among Gold Fields’ nature-based initiatives are constructed wetlands at operations such as South Deep Mine. The wetlands are designed to manage surface-water flows while simultaneously enhancing biodiversity value. From a mine-water management perspective, the initiative is particularly significant, as it demonstrates how water stewardship and biodiversity restoration can be integrated within active mining landscapes. Renewable energy drive To avoid catastrophic climate change, global renewable energy capacity must be significantly expanded. In South Africa, mining companies have been proactively investing in renewable energy at scale, driven by the need to reduce operating costs, secure reliable power supply, mitigate exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices, and meet increasingly stringent ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) targets. According to Gold Fields, reliable energy supply in the Witwatersrand is intrinsically linked to effective water
management, given that pumping operations, water treatment infrastructure, ventilation systems and underground refrigeration are all dependent on secure power availability. Discussing its investment in renewable energy, Gold Fields advises that the 50MW Khanyisa solar plant at South Deep Mine provided 17% of the mine’s electricity demand in 2024, contributing to both lower operating costs and reduced carbon emissions. Meanwhile, Harmony, a gold mining specialist with a growing copper footprint, is targeting more than 500 MW of solar and wind capacity by FY28 across its South African operations through own-generation and wheeled energy arrangements. Sibanye-Stillwater, which is heavily focused on transitioning to renewable energy with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, reports a 765 MW renewable-energy portfolio, currently making it the largest private renewable energy off-taker in the South African mining industry. Of these renewable projects, the 89 MW Castle wind farm
constructed wetlands example is a concrete case of this integration,” concludes Liefferink. n
JULY 2026 | www.modernminingmagazine.co.za MODERN MINING 27
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker