Gold Fields said on Monday it would invest in its own emergency power generation for its South African operations at a cost of R200-million.
The installation would be completed by year-end to generate 50MW of electricity for its four South African mines in case the country faced a national power failure.
”There is a danger of almost complete flooding if we have no power to maintain the mines, in case of a total power blackout,” COO Terence Goodlace told Reuters.
”What we shall install can help us perform emergency measures such as hoisting workers to the surface, but it will not be enough to enable us to mine,” he added.
The company’s third-quarter output took a hit as state-owned utility Eskom failed to provide enough power to South Africa’s mines, which led to a five-day countrywide mine shutdown in January, but Goodlace said Gold Fields was ”coping well” with the reduced supply.
Eskom supplies between 90% to 95% of electricity requirements to mines in the country.
Goodlace also said the recent tariff increase granted to Eskom of 27,5% would translate into an additional cost of R200-million a year for the company.
The entire mining sector has said the increase could see costs rise by 34,2%, or R1,6-billion.
Goodlace spoke on the sidelines of a media visit to Kloof mine, a key mine in the group.
Gold Fields shut a shaft at its Kloof operation for two days last week and suspended blasting at the entire mine for a day to allow for an audit after two workers were killed in a tremor.
The mine, which does not normally operate on Saturday, resumed operations on Sunday evening, officials said.
”We had to ensure safety of the entire operations,” Vishnu Pillay, head of the firm’s South African mines, told Reuters.
”Even more than power shortages, safety is our biggest concern,” Pillay added. — Reuters