Aqua Power is working together with Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT) to develop a first to market Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to mining project at Tarkwa in Western Ghana. The project will be launched at the Iduapriem Gold Mine which is part of the mining complex in Tarkwa between AGA and Goldfields, which is currently Africa’s largest Gold Mine and one of the largest in the world. The project will be the first ever LNG to mining operation in Africa using CAT’s proprietary Dynamic Gas Blending (DGB) technology installed on 18 CAT 785C 150-ton mining trucks in the first phase to displace diesel. The DGB technology consumes a blend of LNG and Diesel displacing 60% of diesel, lowering fuel costs by 30% for the truck fleet, whilst maintaining truck performance, payload and reliability. CAT’s DGB technology is truly a factory integrated system and currently the only reliable OEM LNG solution available on the market allowing leading mining clients to operate in a more profitable and sustainable way by reducing both operational cash costs and CO2 emissions in mining. CAT has been collaborating with AGA and Aqua Power to deploy the DGB Technology in Africa by ensuring that all technical requirements are aligned on the LNG fueling station and CAT DGB Mining Trucks; providing operational readiness and training and helping Aqua Power to grow the use of LNG for mining, power generation and other applications.

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Aqua Power is in the advanced stages of building a 1.5 Tons Per Hour (TPH) LNG Plant (50,000 Nm3/d Natural Gas) in Western Ghana to supply AGA with LNG for their CAT DGB Mining Trucks. The LNG Plant will take feedstock from Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNGC’s) piped gas distribution station. The LNG Plant will have flexible operations and is designed to operate between 50%-110% of the nameplate capacity based on LNG market demand. In addition to the LNG Plant, Aqua Power’s operations include LNG storage, LNG trucking in ISO tank containers, LNG Off-loading and LNG saturation and dispensing (refuelling) at the Iduapriem Gold Mine. As such, Aqua Power is providing a turn-key solution for the LNG supply chain from LNG Production, to LNG Storage, to LNG Transportation, to LNG Off-loading, to LNG Saturation and finally LNG Dispensing (Re-Fueling) into the CAT DGB Mining Trucks. Aqua Power is building, owning and operating all infrastructure related to the LNG supply chain in Ghana based on a five-year LNG fuel Supply Agreement with AGA.

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CAT’s DGB Technology has already been proven in Mexico, where it has been deployed at London Stock Exchange listed Fresnillo’s La Herradura Gold Mine, delivering significant reductions in both fuel costs and emissions. Aqua Power plans for our Ghana LNG network to supply other local off takers, including mines operated by Goldfields and Newmont, and to eventually create a West African LNG Hub. Aqua Power is planning two further hubs in Tanzania to supply East Africa and in Mozambique focused on the Southern African market. Based on hubs in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa Aqua Power intends to address a market to supply some 1,000 mining trucks with around 275,000 tons per annum of LNG working closely with CAT and Africa’s miners to implement renewable energy solutions, technology and infrastructure to reduce costs and emissions.