Promethium Carbon, which assisted Gold Fields with the development of the methodology and carbon credit registration, said it was the first climate credit project of this size undertaken by a gold mine and it was the only South African CDM project registered in 2011.
The methane capture project was registered by the UNFCCC on September 7, under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Beatrix mine project captures methane gas at its source, which is then piped to the surface where is either flared or used to generate electricity.
Promethium Carbon director Robbie Louw said the project has generated substantial benefits.
It is expected that the carbon emissions at the operation will be reduced by 1.7-million tons of carbon dioxide from 2011 to 2018.
The revenue generated by the carbon credits has enabled Gold Fields to extract methane gas at source, which has a positive impact on safety because it prevents the methane gas from entering the mine ventilation system.
“Although gold mines are generally not viewed as big emitters, the situation is different in South Africa because our mines are very deep, hot and energy intensive. So this is an important contribution to the reduction of climate change, " Louw said. Read the full report here.
Source: by Brindaveni Naido, Mining Weekly.com, Johannesburg.
