#copper mines

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A day at the copper mine.

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Copper Mines, New Hampshire, USA via /r/natureporn https://ift.tt/2uaj2ti

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the coal and energy transition series, part five: energy and the mines

the mining sector consumes approximately 60 percent of zambia's total generated electricity. it is the single largest consumer of electricity in the country — by a considerable margin.

a large underground copper mine is, in engineering terms, a series of problems that electricity solves.

ventilation — forcing fresh air kilometres underground and extracting hot, stale air and blasting fumes to keep miners safe and productive. dewatering — pumping the groundwater that continuously infiltrates underground workings to the surface, because a flooded mine is a stopped mine. hoisting — lifting ore from depth to surface. crushing and milling — breaking ore from large lumps to the fine particles that flotation requires. flotation — separating copper minerals from waste rock in large agitated tanks of water and chemical reagents.

at mopani copper mines, the pumping of underground water to the surface is the single largest component of energy costs. this is the energy cost that cannot be avoided or deferred. if the pumps stop, the mine floods. if the mine floods, it takes months — sometimes years — to dewater and restore to safe operating condition. the energy keeping the pumps running is not a variable cost that can be managed down in a crisis. it is the minimum energy floor below which the mine simply ceases to exist as an operating asset.

the 2024 energy crisis put all of this in sharp relief. sourcing more expensive power added on average USD 0.06 per pound of copper to basic cash costs — twice the impact seen earlier that year. zambia's biggest mines turned to eskom of south africa for electricity to keep mines and smelters running. the government shielded the mines from the worst of the load shedding that residential consumers experienced — because copper generates approximately 70 percent of zambia's export earnings and the foreign exchange consequences of mine shutdowns would have been catastrophic.

zambia currently experiences an electricity deficit of over 750 megawatts. that deficit means the mines — even when protected from outright shutdown — are paying more for their electricity than they would in a well-supplied grid environment. sourcing power from independent power producers, from regional imports, from their own generator capacity, all at costs above what a functioning ZESCO tariff would deliver.

zambia has been moving toward a flat rate of 9.33 cents per kilowatt-hour for mining companies — a significant increase from pre-crisis rates. this tariff increase affects the marginal economics of which ore bodies are worth mining, which projects are worth developing, which investments in new mining capacity are commercially justified.

the energy-mining nexus runs in both directions. expanded copper production — the copper needed for EVs, solar panels, and wind turbines — is what global demand is calling for. the clean energy transition that zambia's minerals enable globally requires a reliable, affordable energy system in zambia itself.

every megawatt of low-cost solar generation added to the zambian grid reduces the marginal cost of electricity that the mines pay. cheaper, more reliable electricity means lower operating costs, means better mine economics, means more investment, means more copper, means more export earnings, means more zambian fiscal revenue.

the energy crisis is a mining crisis.

the solar solution is a mining solution.

the coal and energy transition series continues. ⚡

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COPPER MINES

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THE COPPER MINES OF CORUSCANT

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What Entities are Behind the Reckless Endangerment of Northern Minnesota and its Water Resources

What Entities are Behind the Reckless Endangerment of Northern Minnesota and its Water Resources

One must ask: “Are any of you pro-copper/nickel/sulfide mining politicians listening?” This means you, Amy Klobuchar,  Mark Dayton, Rick Nolan, Tom Bakk, Kurt Daude, David Tomassoni, Tom Rukavina, Chris Coleman, Paul Thissen ,Tim Walz Pete Stauber, to name just a few of the many politicians that may be somehow beholden to non-ferrous mining interests because of campaign “contributions.    By 

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