Diamonds Dug in Gusty Arctic Too Remote for Diesel Fuel

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/diamonds-dug-in-gusty-arctic-too-remote-for-diesel-fuel-energy.html

The four windmills dug into northern Canada’s tundra that power Rio Tinto Group (RIO)’s $5.2 billion Diavik diamond mine are the world’s first designed to work in gusts as cold as 40 degrees below zero.

The mining company has sunk $30 million into wind energy because roads are frozen and closed to diesel fuel deliveries for 10 months a year. Near the opposite pole, in Argentina, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) is testing the highest wind turbine at 4,100 meters (13,450 feet), an altitude almost halfway up Mt. Everest. The machine was designed for low air density and provides 20 percent of a Barrick gold mine’s power on windy days.

“All the big mining companies are studying different types of renewables,” Gil Forer, Ernst & Young LLP’s clean-tech head in New York, said in an interview. They are “very strategic” for an energy-intensive industry, he said.

Gold and diamonds often are found where no power cables exist, particularly at the planet’s extremes where winds are stronger. Mining companies are investing in renewable energy faster than other industries and will account for 1.8 percent of global clean-power spending this year, double the 0.9 percent rate in 2010, according to data compiled by Ernst & Young and Bloomberg. At the same time, they’re risking more production on weather, as cloud cover and still days can kill power supply.