International bullion miner Gold Fields has awarded a contract to Goldwind to design, manufacture, and construct seven wind turbines for its St Ives gold mine, located 80 km south of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

The turbines will form a 42 MW wind farm as part of the company’s A$296-million St Ives Renewable Energy project, which is set to become Western Australia’s largest renewable-energy initiative at an existing mine site.

The broader renewable-energy project also includes a 35 MW solar farm, currently under construction in partnership with Pacific Energy. The solar farm is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. Once fully operational, the renewable-energy system will supply 73% of the St Ives site’s power needs and reduce the mine’s carbon emissions by about 50% by 2030.

Gold Fields principal specialist and project director Simon Schmid said the initiative forms part of the company’s wider decarbonisation strategy across its global operations in Australia, South Africa, Ghana, Canada, and South America.

"We’re already benefiting from significant renewable-energy generation across our Australian operations, including 18 MW at Gruyere, 10 MW at Granny Smith, and 35 MW at Agnew," Schmid stated.

"We are excited to see the project’s contribution to our broader global decarbonisation strategy, which contains a target of 30% net emission reduction by 2030, reinforcing our long-term and growing commitment to sustainability," he added.

Manufacturing of the turbines is already under way, with their arrival in Western Australia expected in August 2025. Construction will begin the following month.

Meanwhile, as part of the St Ives renewables programme, Gold Fields has partnered with creative consultancy FORM Building a State of Creativity to engage local school students and emerging artists in a project to design artwork for the turbines. Their artwork will be showcased across a lot of different applications, including on the turbines themselves, which will stand 130 m high once constructed.