By BUTTYSON KANDIMBA
An energy-saving campaign by First Quantum Minerals Trident (FQM TRI) is underway to reduce power consumption and enable all sectors of the economy to sustain operations.
First Quantum Minerals Trident Limited (FQM TRI) launched the Energy Saving and Carbon Footprint Reduction Campaign on April 4 with a commitment to practically save energy and reduce the mining operation’s demand on national energy.
Assistant General Manager Fredrick Wouters said the mining firm is committed to energy-saving initiatives which will see the mine reduce its demand on the country’s energy
distribution system and also reduce the negative impact on the environment. The campaign would further help to improve FQM TRI’s operational efficiency and reduce its costs.
“Through this programme, we aim to deliver a meaningful reduction of our operations energy consumption over the next few years,” Wouters said.
Management had put in place an energy-saving team to harness the collective knowledge and creativity of the entire workforce to identify opportunities, investigate novel solutions and implement initiatives.
Wouters added, “As a leadership team, we all understand that implementing these initiatives will require a significant investment of time and resources, but we know it is the right thing to do for the sustainability of our operations as well as for our reputation as a responsible mining company.”
Before officially launching the campaign, General Manager Junior Keyser acknowledged that the hard rock mining industry was a significant consumer of energy hence the importance of reducing energy consumption to achieve sustainability. He appealed to all superintendents, managers and business partners to support the initiative and embrace the change that will come with it, “This project came about late last year in reaction to a conjunction of circumstances like the increasing cost of pressures on the industry associated in particular to energy and fuel.” Other factors included low water levels in the Kariba Dam which resulted in power outages which affected many communities across the country. The country is faced with several challenges related to energy production and management because it relied heavily on hydropower generation. “To address these challenges, the Zambian Government has implemented a number of policies aimed at promoting energy efficiency and conservation as well as the use of renewable energy sources,” he said.
