AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU,JSE:ANG)said on Monday (March 31) that with the completion of its Tropicana renewables project it has created the largest hybrid power system in Australia’s mining sector.
First introduced by AngloGold in June 2023, the renewables project is a partnership with Pacific Energy (ASX:PEA), which will integrate 61 megawatts of wind and solar generation capacity at the Tropicana development.
Tropicana is located in Western Australia roughly 1,000 kilometres east of Perth and is a joint venture between AngloGold and fellow gold producer Regis Resources (ASX:RRL,OTC Pink:RGRNF).
The former holds a 70 percent interest in the project, while the latter owns the remaining 30 percent.
The renewables project is expected to reduce the Tropicana development’s natural gas consumption by approximately 50 percent and decrease carbon emissions by an average of 65,000 tonnes annually over the next decade. The project was completed on time, as construction began toward the end of 2023 and was expected to finish during Q1 2025.
“This project will enable a significant reduction in emissions while reducing both diesel and natural gas consumption and improving our overall security of energy supply,” said AngloGold CEO Alberto Calderon.
The project’s energy capacity is equivalent to powering between 40,000 and 50,000 average Australian homes annually. AngloGold believes Tropicana enhances its net asset value, underlining its status as a valuable investment.
In the long run, the renewables initiative will play a crucial role in AngloGold’s 2030 decarbonisation goal, which calls for a 30 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions based on its 2021 carbon emissions baseline.
Outlining the project’s environmental impact in a fact sheet, AngloGold compares it to planting 33 million trees annually, removing 23,000 cars from the road each year or eliminating 2.8 million long-haul flights per year.
Additionally, the plant is expected to reduce the Tropicana operation’s diesel consumption by 5.6 million litres annually and cut natural gas usage by 1.1 million gigajoules per year.
Pacific Energy was responsible for designing and constructing the expansion. The company also owns and operates the hybrid renewables-natural gas power station under a 10 year power purchase agreement.
Combined, the thermal and renewable power systems will provide a total capacity of 115 megawatts.
Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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WASHINGTON — Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told senators on Wednesday that he’s happy with the company’s progress improving manufacturing and safety practices following several accidents, including a near catastrophe last year.
Ortberg faced questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee about how the company will ensure that it doesn’t repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects, in his first hearing since he became CEO last August, tasked with turning the manufacturer around.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, the committee’s chairman, said he wants Boeing to succeed and invited company managers and factory workers to report to him their opinions on its turnaround plan. “Consider my door open,” he said.
Ortberg acknowledged the company still has more to do.
“Boeing has made serious missteps in recent years — and it is unacceptable. In response, we have made sweeping changes to the people, processes, and overall structure of our company,” Ortberg said in his testimony. “While there is still work ahead of us, these profound changes are underpinned by the deep commitment from all of us to the safety of our products and services.”
Boeing executives have worked for years to put the lasting impact of two fatal crashes of its best-selling Max plane behind it.
Ortberg said Boeing is in discussions with the Justice Department for a revised plea agreement stemming from a federal fraud charge in the development of Boeing’s best-selling 737 Maxes. The previous plea deal, reached last July, was later rejected by a federal judge, who last month set a trial date for June 23 if a new deal isn’t reached.
Boeing had agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, pay up to $487.2 million and install a corporate monitor at the company for three years.
“We’re in the process right now of going back with the DOJ and coming up with an alternate agreement,” Ortberg said during the hearing. “I want this resolved as fast as anybody. We’re still in discussions and hopefully we’ll have a new agreement here soon.”
Asked by Sen. Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democrat on the committee, whether he had an issue with having a corporate monitor, Ortberg replied: “I don’t personally have a problem, no.”
Ortberg and other Boeing executives have recently outlined improvements across the manufacturer’s production lines, such as reducing defects and risks from so-called traveled works, or doing tasks out of sequence, in recent months, as well as wins like a contract worth more than $20 billion to build the United States’ next generation fighter jet.
But lawmakers and regulators have maintained heightened scrutiny on the company, a top U.S. exporter.
“Boeing has been a great American manufacturer and all of us should want to see it thrive,” Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and chairman of the committee, said in a statement in February announcing the hearing. “Given Boeing’s past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are being made to rehabilitate the company’s tarnished reputation.”
The Federal Aviation Administration last year capped Boeing’s production of its 737 Max planes at 38 a month following the January 2024 door plug blowout. The agency plans to keep that limit in place, though Boeing is producing below that level.
Ortberg said at the hearing Wednesday that the company could work up to production rate of 38 Max planes a month or even higher sometime this year, but said Boeing wouldn’t push it if the production line isn’t stable.
Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said at a Senate hearing last week that the agency’s oversight of the company “extends to ongoing monitoring of Boeing’s manufacturing practices, maintenance procedures, and software updates.”
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