IN LISBON: Coeur Mining (TSX:CDE) and Cryopeak Energy Solutions are using liquified natural gas (LNG) to help power the Silver Tip Mine located in northern British Columbia, Canada.
In early 2020, Coeur Mining suspended mining and processing activities and has since started to evaluate a larger potential expansion and restart. The polymetallic project is considered among one of the ‘highest grade’ silver-zinc-lead projects globally.
Speaking at the Electric Mine Conference, held between 5-7 May in Lisbon, Portugal, Allen Wilkes, improvement and safety consultant at Coeur Mining, poses the question of what happens if a mine site does not have power available.
“How do you get the electrons to powered mines,” Wilkes says.
Wilkes notes that Silver Tip lies on the border of the Yukon Territory and is a very remote location.
“Which of course is a reason to focus on innovative solutions for getting the energy to build and operate a mine,” he explains.
That is where Cryopeak’s collaboration with the company came in, as CEO Calum McClure says that the company developed a new, small-scale LNG value chain to power the Silver Tip Mine.
“We wanted to make something very small and niche that could support a mine, provide security and an approximate supply of energy,” McClure says.
“To do that, we needed to develop a new supply chain and that would involve taking natural gas from the existing pipeline infrastructure, then providing a small-scale at the fractional plant, loading it onto trucks and then sending it to the end-use application – in this case, mining, then for power generation and also heating.”
Cryopeak tackling off-grid challenges
Cryopeak’s LNG facility – used to power the Silver Tip Mine – takes gas from the pipeline and cleans that gas, then refrigerates it and stores it before it is loaded onto trucks.
McClure says it takes three deliveries a day to provide 10 megawatts of power at the mine site.
“One of the challenges we learned was always go and have a look at the access road before you go pull things up it,” McClure notes.
“It ended up being a little bit more than the advertised grade, and it was quite a challenge.”
Cryopeak focuses on fuel distribution in northern Canada, as well as the provision of cryogenic equipment and technologies internationally.
“We try to measure ourselves from displacing diesel – we try to get rid of the higher cost fuels and displace them at lower emissions and lower cost LNG,” McClure says.
LNG is a sustainable, economical, and reliable energy source that bridges the gap between high-carbon fuels and a greener future. Cryopeak’s transportation and logistics network ensures delivery to remote and off-grid locations, supported by mobile storage and regasification equipment.
McClure explains that it boils at 162℃ atmospheric pressure and is 600 times more energy dense than natural gas.
“Particularly up in Canada, it is extremely cost effective,” he adds.
“Diesel is not the primary fuel choice in Northern Canada anymore.”
A transition fuel for electrification
While LNG is not considered a final net zero solution, both Cryopeak and Coeur Mining position it as a practical transition fuel for remote mining operations, where grid infrastructure is unavailable or delayed.
McClure says that the technology can support mine electrification and act as a bridging solution until permanent grid connections become available – a process which can take several years in remote regions.
Allen Wilkes adds that mining has “enormous” environmental impacts.
“It’s also a reminder that if you can’t farm it, it has to be mined,” Wilkes says.
“Our goal should be to reduce those [impacts], while producing as much as we possibly can.”
The Electric Mine Conference brings together global mining executives at a critical point in the sector’s decarbonisation journey. The event – which brings in more than 750 delegates across 35 countries – was established six years ago and serves as an essential platform for companies involved in the mine electrification transition.
Mining.com.au was on the floor and in attendance at this year’s event.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Coeur Mining & Cryopeak Energy Solutions
