South Africa’s biggest gold mine, Gold Fields’ South Deep mine, having gotten the green light to construct a solar power plant from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in 2021, will be switching to solar power later this year. Business Insider reports that the plant, when fully operational, will account for 24% of South Deep’s annual electricity consumption, saving the company R123 million a year, and reduce the mine’s carbon footprint by more than 110,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. It will also take some pressure off South Africa’s embattled power utility Eskom.
