Power and Grid

Access to reliable and competitively priced power can be an important consideration in the development and operation of mining assets. Power requirements can be significant, particularly for energy-intensive mining and processing operations, and the availability of nearby generation or transmission infrastructure can influence project economics, permitting assumptions and development requirements.

Global Mining Dataset provides a consistent view of the power generation and transmission infrastructure surrounding each asset, allowing users to compare regional power context across the asset universe.

The power and grid layer covers two main areas:

• Power generation: the location, capacity and generation type of mapped power plants.
• Transmission infrastructure: proximity to the mapped electricity transmission network.

These indicators are designed for early-stage screening. They help identify assets where existing power infrastructure may be relevant to development planning, and where power supply, connection cost, reliability or emissions exposure should be investigated in more detail.

Power generation context helps users understand the scale and type of electricity infrastructure surrounding an asset.

For each asset, Global Mining Dataset records characteristics of the nearest mapped power plant and counts nearby renewable generation facilities. These values are intended to show the surrounding power environment, not to confirm grid access or available supply.

This can be useful when comparing assets or potential mine locations in regions with very different power environments. An asset located within an established generation network presents a different development context from a remote asset with little existing power infrastructure or a likely dependency on on-site generation.

Generation capacity provides an indication of the scale of nearby power infrastructure.

Larger facilities may indicate the presence of a more developed regional electricity system or significant industrial demand, while smaller facilities may represent local or distributed generation. Capacity should be interpreted as a characteristic of the generation facility rather than an indication of power available to the mining asset. Existing generation may already be committed to other users or may not be connected to the network serving the project.

The generation type of surrounding generation facilities provides additional context on the energy sources used in the region surrounding a mining asset. Depending on location nearby generation may include:

• Coal
• Natural gas
• Oil or diesel
• Hydroelectric
• Solar
• Wind
• Nuclear
• Or other generation technologies

Understanding the surrounding generation mix can be relevant when considering energy costs, fuel exposure, emissions intensity and potential decarbonization pathways.

Renewable generation can be particularly relevant for mining companies seeking to reduce operational emissions, improve energy security or understand the availability of lower-carbon power infrastructure.

Global Mining Dataset identifies renewable generation within the surrounding area of each asset, providing an initial indication of the existing renewable energy environment.

The presence of nearby solar, wind or hydro generation does not imply that renewable electricity is available to the asset. However, it can help identify regions where renewable generation is already established.

Transmission infrastructure provides an indication of how developed the electricity grid is around an asset. Global Mining Dataset measures proximity to mapped transmission infrastructure, allowing users to compare grid context across different regions.

Assets located close to existing transmission infrastructure may have a different development pathway than remote projects where substantial new power infrastructure would be required to connect to the grid or to existing generation assets. Transmission proximity can therefore be useful when screening for potential infrastructure constraints, particularly for projects expected to have significant electricity requirements.

Transmission proximity should not be interpreted as confirmation of available grid access. Connection feasibility can depend on line voltage, network capacity, ownership, regulatory approvals, power-purchase arrangements and the cost of new connection infrastructure.

Power and grid indicators combine mapped power generation facilities with mapped electricity transmission infrastructure.