The South African gold mining industry has a history of pioneering accolades and is set to soon add another to its trophy cabinet. In an effort to reduce both carbon emissions and costs while improving the health conditions for its workers – Sibanye Gold is hoping to be the first gold producer in the world to fuel trains with biogenic gas.

Molopo South Africa has reported it is partnering with the gold firm to commence underground testing during the course of 2015 on an underground locomotive that has been converted from diesel to run on compressed natural gas.

Biogenic gas has been located in the Free State, close to the mining operations of Harmony Gold, Sibanye Gold, and Petra Diamonds.

The locomotive has been tested above-ground where it pulled eight wagons carrying a 30-metric-tonne load, the equivalent of those pulled by diesel engines.

“It will be a significant milestone to move to the next phase of what we believe is a world first,” states Stefano Marani, a director at Molopo South Africa

Pending the successful testing of safety and gas distribution systems the South African gold producer may commence with the replacing of part of its fleet of 570 diesel engines within two years. This will effectively reduce miners’ exposure to potentially harmful emissions and save up to 25% in fuel costs.

“A successful implementation will greatly improve our working environment, reduce our carbon footprint, and improve the efficiency of our operations,” explains Karel Opperman, Sibanye’s vice-president of engineering.

Molopo South Africa reports that it has measured amounts of recoverable biogenic gas in the Free State gas fields measuring just more than 100-billion ft³ with an upside potential of 1-trillion ft³. It is estimated that this amount of gas could generate enough energy to power the gas-to-liquid Mossel Bay refinery for more than a decade.