JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An energy company has entered into an agreement to supply 288 GWh of renewable energy a year to a South African platinum group metals (PGM) mining operation based in Swartklip, Limpopo province.

The energy company NOA has agreed to supply Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine, a subsidiary of Siyanda Resources, in which the State-owned Public Investment Corporation has a significant shareholding.

The renewables will be wheeled across the national transmission grid by a diversified fleet of wind and PV solar and battery energy storage facilities.

“Energy is one of the largest and most difficult cost lines to manage in our business. At our scale, improvements in energy pricing and reliability directly strengthen our ability to sustain employment, invest in our people and continue developing the communities around us. This solution gives us meaningful cost relief, supply flexibility and a credible pathway to reducing our carbon footprint – all of which are critical to how we run our mine responsibly and sustainably,” was the comment of Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine CFO Imraan Osman in the release to Mining Weekly.

The agreement, which commences as a medium-term arrangement with an option to extend over the longer term, is reflective of NOA’s commitment to tailoring energy solutions to each of its customers’ operational needs, production profiles and commercial objectives.

“Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine is precisely the kind of high-quality South African operation that exemplifies why a flexible, large-scale renewable-energy solution matters – it delivers predictable price certainty and cost savings relative to existing alternatives, and contributes to decarbonisation objectives,” NOA Group CEO Karel Cornelissen pointed out.

Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine was acquired in 2018 from the then Anglo American Platinum, now Valterra Platinum, through a partnership between Siyanda Resources, the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community, and employees, who number 5 300. The mine also employs 2 800 contractors. Wheeling broker Solink Energy served in an advisory capacity.