Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and managing our environmental impacts are key elements of New Gold’s Sustainability Strategy. New Gold has committed to a reduction of GHG emissions by 30% by 2030. In 2022, the Rainy River Mine began installation of new equipment on its haul trucks provided by Cascadia Scientific Terrain to manage, report and assist in identifying opportunities to reduce haul truck fuel consumption and resulting emissions. This technology provides our operations with information such as identifying “hot spots” along the haul road requiring attention, as well as notification when haul trucks accelerate or idle unnecessarily. The data guides our maintenance, operations, dispatch, and training departments to pinpoint areas for real-time improvements. All haul trucks are now fully equipped and Rainy River Mine continues to monitor and quantify the GHG emissions data to support achieving our emission reduction goals.
“People are key to any successful energy or GHG management initiative—they are the drivers here—and are definitely committed to digging into a more efficient tomorrow,” said Rainy River Energy Specialist Cheryl Maki.
This haul fuel initiative, along with our biodiesel supply utilized during warmer months resulted in an annual tracked avoidance of two million litres of fuel and CO2 equivalent reductions of over 7,000 tonnes in 2023, which exceeded our annual target of 3,800 t/C02 equivalent for our diesel fuel-attributed emissions.
Moving forward in 2024, our energy and GHG-reduction projects will continue to focus on optimizing processes, supporting electrical grid reliability for the region, using biodiesel as a fuel source, reducing energy/fuels across the HVAC systems, updating to LED lighting with controls, and using waste heat generated by the site as a free and renewable energy source. As we forge a path forward, we will continue to seek out new and innovative opportunities to minimize our impact, not just for today, but for the generations to come.
The post The Road to Reducing our Greenhouse Gas Emissions first appeared on Rainy River Mine.