New Afton Targets 10,000 Hours of BEV Utilization
In November 2022, New Afton recertified to ISO 50001:2018. After a comprehensive recertification audit of all Significant Energy Uses (SEUs) on site, New Afton is still the only mine in North America to be certified to this internationally recognized standard. ISO 50001 as a tool helps build energy and greenhouse gases (GHG) management into the systems and culture of our company, so it becomes part of what we do on a day-to-day basis. At New Afton, we are confident this approach has helped us reach and surpass our goals.
In 2022, we exceeded our annual energy objective by 70% in achieving a total energy reduction of 2.74GWhe – equivalent to the average annual electricity needed to power 304 houses in BC. This was accomplished primarily by innovative freshwater use reduction initiatives by the New Afton Mill Operations team, as well as the implementation of two new 50 tonne battery electric (BE) haul trucks by the Mine Operations and Maintenance teams. In addition to these BE haul trucks being zero-emissions vehicles, analysis of data showed that they used only 26% of the energy of an equivalent diesel-powered haul truck. In 2022, New Afton also exceeded its GHG reduction objective by 625% with a total emissions reduction of 5,894 TC02e – largely due to a reduction in the BC Hydro emissions intensity factor, based on emissions produced in the generation of the electricity we use, but also from the aforementioned initiatives that reduced our energy use and diesel emissions in our operations.
This is the ninth year in a row that New Afton exceeded its energy and GHG reduction objective, which is testament to the creativity and innovation of the New Afton employees. It is going to take a collaborative effort to achieve the challenging energy and GHG reduction objectives New Afton has set for 2023. Supported by ISO 50001 and driven by our employees, these objectives are achievable because Energy Matters at New Afton.
