Modern Mining August 2022

MINING News

Robex Resources and Vivo Energy complete solar plant at Nampala

TSX-listed Robex Resources and LSE-listed Vivo Energy have completed construc

tion of a hybrid solar power plant at the Nampala gold mine in Mali. The two groups

have also signed an exclusivity agreement for Vivo Energy to provide a further hybrid solar and thermal power solution to the Kiniero gold mine in Guinea, owned by Sycamore Mining and currently in the pro cess of merging with Robex. Vivo Energy now supplies carbon free power to the Nampala mine through its equity funded solar hybrid project. The project reduces the carbon footprint of the mine by around 60 000 tonnes over ten years, while mak ing a material reduction in the mine’s cost of energy. Vivo Energy Mali has supplied fuels and lubricants to the Nampala mine since it reached commercial production in 2017. Robex Resources is a key customer of Vivo Energy in Mali. Benjamin Cohen, CEO of Robex Resources said: “We continue to work on closing the Sycamore Mining merger and, following the success of the Nampala proj ect, have signed an exclusivity agreement with Vivo Energy to develop a hybrid solar energy solution that will provide in excess of 40% of the power requirements for the Kiniero mine in Guinea, displacing 27 000 tonnes of CO 2 per year.”  free in the second quarter of the year. This is significant because gold and platinum mines have not had a FOG-fatality free first six months of the year in the history of South African mining, says Minerals Council’s head of safety Dr Sizwe Phakathi. There were 11 FOG fatalities by the end of June last year. In the past three years, including the industry’s record safety per formance in 2019, FOG fatalities accounted for at least 20 deaths in each of those three years. The Minerals Council Board held a special meeting in December 2021 to urgently implement eight interventions to halt two years of regression in safety per formances in the mining industry and then to reverse the trend. In 2020 and 2021, the industry reported 60 and 74 fatalities respectively, compared to the all-time low of 51 in 2019. “We are undertaking a comprehensive review to understand what went well and what we can learn from the past six months. The review will be done by the Minerals Council in collaboration with other stake holders,” said Dr Phakathi. 

Vivo Energy supplies carbon free power to the Nampala mine in Mali.

Record fatality reduction in the first half of 2022

According to the Minerals Council South Africa, the country achieved a record six months without a mining fatality caused by

a fall-of-ground (FOG) in gold and platinum mines. The entire industry was FOG fatality

The industry was FOG fatality-free in the second quarter of the year.

6  MODERN MINING  August 2022