In mid-November in northern Chile, Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N) officially opened its Punta Colorada Wind Farm, the largest wind power grid ever built by a mining company in the country.
The event was attended by the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, the ministers of Mining and Energy, Hernan de Solminihac and Rodrigo Alvarez, and authorities from Chile’s Atacama and Coquimbo regions.
The US$50-million project is in the town of La Higuera in Chile’s Coquimbo region, and any power generated is fed into Chile’s Central Interconnected System power grid.
Barrick says the farm’s 10 turbines can generate 20 megawatts of power, or enough to supply the energy needs of 10,000 families, and it can be expanded to 18 turbines generating 36 megawatts for a total investment of US$70 million.
Punta Colorado is only the latest of Barrick’s alternative energy projects. In Nevada, the company has a 1-megawatt solar power grid. In Argentina, Barrick spent US$8.5 million to build a high-altitude wind turbine that provides up to 20% of the electricity needs of its Veladero gold mine.
Barrick notes that, in 2010, 15% of its purchased and self-generated electricity came from renewable sources.
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