our licence on the basis of self-generation for selfconsumption in June 2020,” explains Preece. “We applied for the licence and submitted our technical and economic study, as well as the approved environmental authorisation. This was followed by a number of interactions with the regulator to provide further details or to address technical and other questions where required.” Gold Fields also included Eskom in the application process and requested the power utility to provide input and consent. “This was followed by a public input process led by Nersa. The Nersa technical committee considered our application and made a recommendation to its board,” Preece says. The entire licence application process took just under a year to complete. Having successfully obtained its licence, Gold Fields learnt some valuable lessons from the application process. According to Preece, the licensing process cannot be outsourced and needs to be led and owned by the business. “It is important to clearly understand the expectations and requirements, and to build sound working relationships with all parties to ensure these expectations and requirements are met.” Future projects Apart from South Deep, Gold Fields has two other mines in Africa – Tarkwa and Damang, both in Ghana. Preece states that there are future energy plans for these mines, including renewable sources, particularly solar. “However, this is not a short- to medium-term
priority, as the two mines have dedicated gas plants that provide all their current electricity needs.” He highlights that while the use of renewable energy will go a long way in easing the electricity supply constraints impacting all aspects of the economy, the need to transition to greater renewable energy use is not simply a mining or South African issue – it is a global concern. “We are very excited about the project and extremely proud of the difference it is going to make to our mine and the group’s de-carbonisation efforts, as well as the contribution it will make to the sustainability of our business,” Preece concludes.
Martin Preece is the executive vicepresident of Gold Fields South Africa (Credit: Gold Fields)
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