Commerce Resources Finishes Preliminary Evaluation for Using Renewable Power at Ashram

Commerce Resources (TSXV:CCE) is looking at using renewable power at its Ashram rare earths project in Quebec. The company recently completed a preliminary evaluation of local and regional wind data in the area.
As quoted in the press release:

The wind speed modelling was completed by Tugliq Energy Co. (TUGLIQ) as a first step towards understanding the potential of wind power generation in the region, and its applicability to the Ashram Project. The work incorporated local wind data, collected since early 2013 from a weather station located ~1 km south of the Ashram Deposit, as well as available regional data, correlated and extrapolated into a common dataset.
We are happy to be working with TUGLIQ and are encouraged by these results.”
Wind power generation for northern mining projects is currently operating successfully at two Canadian mine sites; the Diavik Mine, NWT, with a four turbine wind farm (9.2 MW generating capacity) operating since 2012, and most recently at the Raglan Mine, Nunavik, QC, with a single 3 MW turbine and energy storage commissioned in 2014.
The Raglan wind power project is owned and operated by TUGLIQ under a long-term power purchase agreement with Glencore. Public funding supported the R&D components aimed at evaluating several methods of energy storage in a northern microgrid/offgrid environment, enabling high penetration of renewable energy in a hybrid-diesel context.
The preliminary wind speeds recorded in the area of the Ashram Deposit are higher than those of the Diavik Mine, NWT, adding further encouragement to the potential applicability to Ashram. The wind farm at Diavik operates four 2 MW ENERCON turbines, providing a good analogue for Ashram in terms of power capacity and applicable turbine models. The ENERCON turbines at Diavik, as well as Raglan, have been designed to operate in temperatures as low as -40°C and have been demonstrated to be practical, reliable, and cost effective in such environments.
Based on the encouraging findings, the Company is advancing towards a collaborative agreement with TUGLIQ in order to prepare a more definitive assessment of the wind power generation potential at Ashram.

Click here for the full press release.