WA iron ore operations hit by cyclone and fuel shortages

By Mark Scott March 2015 WA’S biggest copper mine will soon be powered by the country’s largest integrated off-grid solar array under an agreement signed by Sandfire Resources and juwi Renewable Energy last month. Sandfire’s DeGrussa copper mine, near Wiluna in the northern Goldfields, will become home to a 10.6 megawatt solar power station that will be fully integrated with its existing 20MW diesel-fired power station. The $40 million project will involve 34,080 solar photovoltaic panels that track the sun and a 6MW battery, constructed on 20 hectares of land near the DeGrussa underground mine. Funding will be coordinated by juwi, which...

The government co-funding initiative has been going since 2009.              Image: Asia Iron. By Cameron Drummond 42 PROJECTS across WA will share up to $4.75 million under State Government’s Exploration Incentives Scheme (EIS) co-funding drilling initiative. The $130 million initiative, initially supported by Royalties for Regions, is being funded from April 2009 to June 2017. The program refunds up to 50 per cent of direct drilling costs with caps of $150,000 for a multi-hole project, $200,000 for a single deep hole, and $30,000 for a prospector application. Refunds are made after completion of drilling and the submission of reports, which are released publically by the Department of Mines and Petroleum after a six-month confidentiality period....