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North of 60 Mining News – June 10, 2026
Solvest’s northern energy work has included solar installations at remote industrial and mining sites across Canada’s North.
Aiming to reduce diesel use at one of Yukon’s largest undeveloped gold projects, the Yukon government and Copper Niisüü Limited Partnership signed an agreement to install two solar arrays with battery electric storage at the Coffee Gold Project south of Dawson City.
Situated roughly 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Dawson City in west-central Yukon, the Coffee project is a large gold deposit spanning more than 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres), where recent studies outlined plans for an open-pit, heap-leach operation producing roughly 217,000 ounces of gold annually over a 13-year mine life.
Acquired by Talamore Mining Corp. (formerly Fuerte Metals Corp.) last year after Newmont moved to divest the long-held Yukon asset, Coffee gave the Vancouver-based company a flagship Canadian gold project already advanced through environmental and socio-economic approval, with remaining work focused on final permitting, feasibility, and a future construction decision.
Over the course of its development, Coffee has seen more than C$300 million ($220 million) invested and nearly 617,000 meters of drilling completed since 2009, a foundation Talamore has since advanced through an updated resource estimate, a filed preliminary economic assessment, and an ongoing 40,000-meter drill program.
To move the project from late-stage studies toward a future construction decision, the company will need reliable power at a site beyond Yukon’s electrical grid, where remote camp operations, exploration programs, and eventual mine development have typically depended on diesel.
Seeking to reduce that reliance, the Yukon government and Copper Niisüü Limited Partnership, with support from the Canadian government, signed an agreement to install a 475-kilowatt solar array at Coffee Camp and a 600-kilowatt array at Java Camp, both paired with battery electric storage.
To be installed by Solvest Inc., a Yukon renewable energy company that helped construct the 3.5-megawatt solar project at Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine in Northwest Territories, built the 1.7-MW North Klondike solar plant north of Whitehorse, and has supplied solar, battery, and hybrid power systems for mining projects across Canada’s North, the arrays will be supported through the Yukon government’s Good Energy Program, which is backed by Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund.
“The Yukon’s mining sector is important to our economy and our communities,” Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Ted Laking said. “Projects like this help reduce diesel use at remote mine sites while creating business opportunities for Yukon First Nations and local companies. It’s a practical investment that supports jobs, energy innovation, and a more reliable northern energy system.”
Expected to begin operating in 2027, the system will be owned by Copper Niisüü and rented to Talamore, offsetting roughly 580,000 liters of diesel use annually at the remote site.
Through that ownership model, the agreement would also give White River First Nation’s development corporation a direct role in supplying power to Coffee as the project continues through late-stage work.
“Copper Niisüü is excited to work with our territorial government partners and Fuerte Metals on demonstrating how instituting responsible mining practices can assist all parties in the advancement of new and important projects like the Coffee Creek development,” Copper Niisüü President John Vandermeer said. “The focus on renewable energy for the advancement of this project highlights how industry, government, and First Nations can work together on trying to continue to move the needle on reducing our carbon footprint while enabling businesses to grow and provide benefit to all parties in a safe and appropriate manner.”
For Talamore, the system would reduce diesel demand at a site where current activity is still tied to exploration and assessment rather than mine operations.
Speaking to CBC News, Talamore CEO Tim Warman said roughly 70 workers are now at Coffee carrying out exploration, and the arrays would be enough to meet the site’s current electricity demand.
“We don’t have to buy the diesel and we also don’t have to ship it in, because everything has to be shipped into the camp,” Warman told CBC.
With Coffee still moving through remaining assessment and permitting work, Warman told CBC the project could clear that process by the end of the year. Should the project advance beyond current exploration and study work, he said the solar arrays would continue helping offset emissions tied to future site activity.
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