Zijin Longking Plans to Invest USD 55.24 Million in a 45MWp Solar-Storage Project for the Aurora Gold Mine in Guyana

en.Wedoany.com Reported - The board of directors of Zijin Longking has approved an investment by its wholly-owned subsidiary Zijin Longking Clean Energy Co., Ltd. to build an underground mining solar-storage project at the Aurora Gold Mine in Guyana, with a total investment of approximately USD 55.24 million. The project is planned to include a 45MWp photovoltaic system and a 50MW/100MWh battery energy storage system. The investment scope covers power generation and energy storage equipment, transportation, installation, and other construction costs, with funds to be self-raised by the company.

The project will be located in the underground mining area of the Aurora Gold Mine and will adopt a self-generation and self-consumption model at the mine site. It is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2027, with a designed operating period of 30 years. The photovoltaic system is expected to generate approximately 61.76 million kWh annually on average. The electricity settlement price for the project has also been determined: the tax-exclusive settlement electricity price will be set at 50% of the sum of the mine's average annual diesel power generation cost and the levelized cost of electricity of the solar-storage system.

The Aurora Gold Mine is located in Region 7 of Guyana. The mine area is not connected to the public power grid, and its existing production has long relied on diesel power generation. Zijin Mining disclosed that the mine currently has approximately 181 tonnes of gold resources (including reserves) and is advancing underground mining works. The newly added solar-storage system will directly serve underground mining electricity demand and form a layered power supply together with the existing concentrator and living area power systems.

The Aurora Gold Mine currently has two phases of solar-storage facilities in operation. In April of this year, after the second-phase project was put into operation, the mine's total installed photovoltaic capacity reached 49.4MW, including 31.4MW of newly added photovoltaic capacity and 60MWh of energy storage in the second phase. The existing system is expected to generate approximately 63 million kWh annually, which can cover all electricity demand of the mine's living facilities and about 75% of the concentrator's electricity demand, reducing diesel consumption by approximately 18 million liters per year.

In addition to this 45MWp underground mining solar-storage project, at the same board meeting, the board of directors of Zijin Longking also approved the third-phase solar-storage project for the Aurora concentrator, which is planned to include 15MWp of photovoltaic capacity and a 20MW/80MWh energy storage system, with an investment of approximately USD 26.62 million, also scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2027. The two newly added projects together are planned to include 60MWp of photovoltaic capacity and 180MWh of energy storage.