Zimbabwe’s Eureka Gold Mine ditches diesel for Invictus’ cleaner natural gas

Invictus Energy, Dallaglio Investments and Himoinsa Southern Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a gas-to-power project to supply electricity to Eureka Gold Mine, one of the largest gold producing mines in Zimbabwe.

Invictus Energy’s managing director, Scott MacMillan, said that signing the MOU is a major step forward in their early commercialization strategy.

“We are pleased to be partnering with one of the largest gold producers in the country in Dallaglio and one of the leading power generation solutions companies in Himoinsa for our planned pilot project,” said MacMillan.

The Eureka Gold Mine is located just 50km south of the Mukuyu gas field, which makes it an ideal location for a pilot project.

The high quality gas composition confirmed from Mukuyu-2 requires minimal surface processing of the gas stream, which enables the implementation of a near-term pilot project utilising a low-cost production system at the wellsite and existing infrastructure to deliver gas and power to end users.

A feasibility study will be undertaken to determine the optimal delivery of power to Eureka either through wellsite power generation and wheeling, utilising the existing grid infrastructure which is located within 5 kilometres of Mukuyu-2 or onsite generation with natural gas transported via truck between wellsite and the power plant.

“We look forward to working closely with Himoinsa and Dallaglio to complete the feasibility study over coming months in tandem with our high impact field activity to progress the project into implementation,” said MacMillan.

Himoinsa Southern Africa Director Matthew Bell said that they are pleased to be working with Invictus and expanding their relationship with Dallaglio to potentially provide a cleaner, cost effective and reliable source of energy to the Eureka Mine through substituting their diesel power generation with natural gas.

“One of the advantages of already being operational onsite at Eureka with a diesel power plant is that we can develop an alternative gas solution to complement or replace the diesel plant without any interruption to the mine’s power security,” said Bell.

Dallaglio CEO James Beare said that power is a critical input for mining operations in Zimbabwe and securing reliable and affordable energy is crucial to support their plans to expand production at Eureka.

“Substituting coal and diesel fired power for natural gas supports our goal as a long-term sustainable gold producer and will significantly reduce our emissions profile,” said Beare.

The MOU is effective for three years and is non-binding until a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) is entered into by the parties.