The world’s first net zero gold mine

In FY25, Bellevue Gold (ASX: BGL) successfully completed construction and transitioned into steady-state production at the Bellevue Gold project. But the miner did not meet its original production guidance for the year.

While Bellevue Gold didn’t succeed in its production aspirations, it made significant strides in decarbonisation, potentially laying the foundations for a productive next-generation gold operation.

Bellevue Gold says it successfully achieved net zero (scope 1 and 2) greenhouse gas emissions at the project for the first half of CY25, making it the world’s first gold operation to do so.

Bellevue Gold managing director and chief executive Darren Stralow and Zenith Energy managing director Hamish Moffat speak with The Australian Mining Review about the miner’s watershed year and the continuing journey to net zero.

Net zero or carbon neutral

Bellevue Gold anticipates its project to become the most renewable powered off grid mine in Australia.

This has been made possible by the company’s hybrid power station, which welcomed four wind turbines in 2025, adding an additional 24MW of renewable energy capacity.

But the distinction between net zero and carbon neutral is crucial.

Many operations rely on carbon credits to achieve so-called net zero. Carbon credits are likely to remain as a core pillar of Australia’s decarbonisation strategy for the foreseeable future as miners figure out the most effective way to fully electrify operations.

But the effectiveness of carbon credits and offsetting, especially in the long term, is questionable. Research from ANU, UNSW and the Australia Institute highlights integrity issues with Australia’s own national carbon credits, known as ACCUs. According to the Australia Institute, there is significant evidence that up to 75% of ACCUs are not resulting in real emissions reductions or are not ‘additional’.

Mr Stralow says Bellevue Gold is taking a different approach to offsetting.

“What we’ve really focused on is not just emitting carbon and then offsetting and calling ourselves net zero. That’s carbon neutral, not net zero,” he said.

“What we see as the difference between carbon neutral and net zero is that in net zero you have to first do your best to mitigate carbon emissions.

“We have been building the projects and in the front of our minds are focused on avoiding, reducing and eliminating as many carbon emissions as possible across the project.”

Hybrid power station

This approach is supported by the hybrid renewable power station, which is forecast to provide more than 80% renewable energy penetration on an annualised basis in FY26.

The power station includes 26.5MW of solar, 24MW of wind and a 15MW/33MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), enabling “engine off” operation.

This means the project can run entirely on renewable energy during favourable conditions.

Zenith Energy was contracted to help deliver this solution.

“The power station has already operated for extended periods on 100% renewable energy, with thermal generation completely switched off – including a record period of 88 hours of engines off, which is over three days of running the power station solely on wind, solar and battery,” Mr Moffat said.

“In FY26, the mine is forecast to be powered by an average of 80-90% renewable energy—which is forecast to be the highest renewable energy fraction of any off-grid mine with variable renewable energy in Australia, if not the world.”

The system is designed to maximise renewable energy penetration, while the battery storage ensures uninterrupted power.

“By minimising reliance on fossil fuels and creating a blueprint for sustainable mining, our partnership is not just powering a mine; it’s powering a fundamental shift in how the resources industry approaches its environmental responsibilities,” Mr Moffat said.

“The power station then enables the next stage of decarbonisation as well, such as for electric vehicles – as these technologies develop and become commercially viable on mine sites.”

Following the recent commissioning of the wind turbines, Bellevue Gold says it is regularly operating with more than 90% renewable energy in a day, with some days even running with 100% renewable energy over a 24-hour period.

During June 2025, Bellevue Gold managed to run the entire mine site on 100% renewable energy for a 58-hour period. In August, the miner beat that record with an 84-hour period of “engines off”.

“The Bellevue gold project serves as a blueprint for the successful deployment of large-scale renewable energy in remote environments,” Mr Moffat said.

“It proves that integrating wind power is not only viable but highly effective in driving decarbonisation, and that a multi-technology approach is the key to reliable, high-penetration renewable systems.”

The ‘green premium’

Like its fellow darling in the jewellery industry, diamonds, gold is drawing increased scrutiny from sustainability-minded consumers.

In addition to the universal pressure for mining to become more ESG-focused, major sustainability concerns for gold include the use of cyanide and ‘conflict-free’ gold.

To position itself as an ethical source of gold, Bellevue Gold has partnered with ABC Refinery and has also recently become a Single Mine Origin (SMO) member mine.

This means, Bellevue Gold may be able to break away from the pack with a differentiated product.

“We’ve been working with a couple of like-minded companies to look at potential for selling our gold into the market as a differentiated product,” Mr Stralow said.

“We have been working with our refiner, which is ABC refinery, to make sure that we have the right level of verification throughout the entire process, so that we can make sure that our gold is smelted in a different crucible to other products.”

Bellevue Gold was able to secure a green premium on small volumes of gold sold during FY25, which the miner says validates its efforts to ensure traceability, emissions reduction and sustainability.

In addition to consumer sentiment, investors seem equally interested in green gold.

“There have been some bullion investors that have preferred a green product to other products that we have that we’ve sold into,” Mr Stralow said.

“SMO sells to jewellers and to other high-end customers and really pushes the social benefits and the green benefits of their product as a differentiator into the market and we’ve sold gold through them for some jewellers and other customers.

“We are [only recently] stepping into that market so there’s still a lot of potential for growth in that sector as well.”

SMO ensures full traceability, ethical provenance and sustainability for every ounce of gold produced from only four gold mines selected by SMO.

This sustainability-centred approach is finding its home in the gold market, as preference grows among consumers, particularly in the jewellery industry, for sustainable and traceable products.

“By aligning technical, operational and sustainability objectives from the project’s inception, we have delivered a solution that is both commercially competitive and powering Bellevue’s Gold dreams of ‘green gold’, which it has been able to sell for a ‘green premium’ to luxury buyers of gold in both the bullion and jewellery market, through collaboration with its refinery partner – ABC Refinery,” Mr Moffat said.

“This collaborative model is essential for future success across the industry.

“Ultimately, the Bellevue gold project and similar projects managed by Zenith, establishes a new paradigm for the mining sector. It demonstrates that off-grid mines no longer need to depend solely on fossil fuels. Hybrid renewable power is a proven, scalable, and adaptable solution that will underpin the next generation of sustainable mining operations worldwide.”