Last week we looked at Fortescue - a mining giant staking its reputation on eliminating all operational emissions by 2030. This week we turn to something different: a much smaller company, but one with a story that is arguably more immediately relevant to the executives running Australia's mines right now.

Bellevue Gold operates a high-grade underground gold mine 40km northwest of Leinster in Western Australia's Goldfields. It is powered by a 90MW off-grid hybrid power station - solar, wind, battery and thermal backup - built and operated by Zenith Energy under a 15-year power purchase agreement. In FY25, the wind turbines were commissioned, the power station diesel generators were switched off, and a new benchmark for renewable energy at Australian mine sites was set.

Published August 2025 · Covers year ended 30 June 2025 · Accompanied by FY25 Climate Transition Plan (published 25 August 2025) and FY25 ESG Databook (published 24 March 2026). TCFD-aligned, voluntarily incorporates elements of AASB S2.

Gold Mining TCFD Aligned Off-Grid Renewables

Annotated with plain-English context and our take on what it means for you

Passage 01 - The 84-Hour Record

"During FY25, we completed the construction and commissioning of four wind turbines, adding an additional 24 MW of renewable energy capacity to our power station. Our hybrid power station is forecast to provide more than 80% renewable energy penetration on an annualised basis in FY26. Following the commissioning of the wind turbines in June 2025, Bellevue Gold is regularly operating with more than 90% renewable energy in a day. We ran the entire mine site on 100% renewable energy for a 58-hour period in June 2025, and then beat that record with an 84-hour period of engines off in August 2025."

Our Take

Put this in context. Bellevue Gold is an off-grid mine in the Western Australian Goldfields - one of the most diesel-dependent operating environments in the country. Diesel for generation, diesel for the underground fleet, diesel for logistics. With Brent crude prices more than 50% higher in April 2026 than at the start of the year, every mine running diesel generators is facing a cost shock that was not in their FY26 budget.

Bellevue's hybrid power station - 27MW solar, 24MW wind, 15MW/33MWh battery - turned the diesel generators off for 84 hours. That is not a sustainability story. That is an operational story about energy cost, supply security, and what a mine site looks like when it no longer depends on a fuel supply chain running through the Strait of Hormuz.

Plain English: Bellevue Gold ran its entire mine on solar, wind and battery power for 84 hours straight. No diesel. No gas. No dependence on fuel that has to be trucked into the Goldfields or priced against a global oil market in crisis. That is what energy security at a mine site looks like in 2026.

Passage 02 - The Net Zero Claim

"Bellevue Gold has achieved net zero (Scope 1 and Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions at the Bellevue Gold Project for the first half of the 2025 calendar year. This has been achieved through our renewable energy generation and by offsetting residual fossil fuel use through the purchase of high-quality carbon credits. Hard-to-abate residual emissions - primarily from underground mining equipment - will continue to require offsetting for the foreseeable future."

Our Take

The "net zero for the first half of CY25" claim is genuine - and genuinely nuanced. The renewable energy generation is real. The 84-hour engines-off period is real. But the Net Zero designation also depends on carbon credit purchases to offset residual diesel emissions from underground equipment - haul trucks, loaders, and drilling rigs that cannot yet run on electricity. This is disclosed clearly in the report, which is itself worth noting. The distinction matters because it places Bellevue Gold on a different point of the decarbonisation spectrum. Both approaches are genuine. But Bellevue's path to full Net Zero runs through carbon credits for hard-to-abate underground fleet emissions - and the cost and quality of those credits is something investors will scrutinise under ASRS mandatory disclosure from FY26.

Plain English: Bellevue Gold has achieved Net Zero for its power station emissions - real and significant. It still purchases carbon credits to offset diesel from its underground fleet. Both facts are true, and the report discloses both. That transparency is exactly what ASRS will require from every Australian miner from FY26 onward.

Passage 03 - The Green Gold Premium

"We have secured a green premium on small volumes of gold sold during FY25, validating our efforts to ensure traceability, emissions reduction and sustainability. This has been realised by collaborating with our partners at ABC Refinery and by becoming a Single Mine Origin (SMO) member mine. SMO is an initiative that ensures full traceability, ethical provenance, and sustainability for every ounce of gold produced - from only four gold mines selected by SMO. The successful sales at a green premium demonstrate that there is growing demand for responsibly produced green gold."

— Bellevue Gold FY25 Sustainability Report, released 13 August 2025

Our Take

This is the commercial model that makes the entire Bellevue sustainability strategy financially sustainable. Green gold sold at a premium to ethical jewellery buyers and bullion purchasers covers - eventually - the cost of the renewable power station, the carbon credits, and the investment in decarbonisation. The jewellery market represents roughly 40% of global gold demand, and traceability is becoming a purchasing criterion in the same way it has for diamonds and coffee.

For other Australian gold miners - and for mining companies across commodities - the Bellevue model raises a question worth considering now: is there a green premium available for your commodity, and if so, what traceability and emissions credentials would be required to access it? The supply chain due diligence requirements flowing from ASRS and global ESG frameworks are creating exactly this kind of market differentiation.

Plain English: Bellevue Gold is selling green gold at a premium to ethical buyers - and the premium is covering part of the cost of their renewable energy investment. It is a circular model: clean energy enables the green gold claim, the green gold claim commands a premium, and the premium funds the clean energy investment. Watch whether other gold miners follow.

Scope 1, 2 & 3 Emissions

The three categories of greenhouse gas emissions under the GHG Protocol. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from sources a company owns or controls (e.g. diesel burned in Bellevue's underground mining fleet and backup generators). Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased electricity and energy. Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions across the value chain - including what happens when customers use the products a company sells. For Bellevue Gold, Scope 3 is relatively modest - gold is not combusted by customers - making Scope 1 and 2 the primary emissions focus.

Off-Grid Hybrid Power Station

A power system that combines multiple generation sources - typically solar, wind, battery storage, and thermal backup (diesel or gas) - to supply electricity to a mine site that is not connected to the main electricity grid. The hybrid design allows the thermal generators to be switched off during periods of high renewable output, reducing diesel consumption and emissions. Bellevue Gold's 90MW hybrid system is among the largest off-grid renewable installations at an Australian mine site.

Single Mine Origin (SMO) and Green Gold

Single Mine Origin is an initiative that certifies gold from a single, named mine with verified traceability, ethical provenance and sustainability credentials. Only four mines globally are currently SMO-certified. A green premium is the price differential that ethically certified gold can command over standard gold - reflecting growing demand from jewellery buyers, luxury brands and ESG-conscious investors for gold with documented sustainability credentials.

Diesel Supply Chain Risk

The vulnerability of remote and off-grid mine sites to disruptions in diesel supply and price. Australian mines in remote locations typically depend on diesel for power generation and mobile equipment, with fuel trucked from refineries over long distances. The 2026 Middle East energy crisis has driven Brent crude prices more than 50% higher since the start of the year, sharply increasing operating costs for diesel-dependent operations and strengthening the financial case for on-site renewable energy generation.

Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs)

Credits issued by the Clean Energy Regulator for projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions. One ACCU represents one tonne of CO2-equivalent stored or avoided. Companies use ACCUs to offset residual emissions they cannot yet eliminate operationally - as Bellevue Gold does for its hard-to-abate underground fleet. The quality and additionality of ACCUs has been subject to significant scrutiny, and under ASRS mandatory disclosure, companies must now be transparent about their reliance on offsets versus direct emissions reductions.

🏅 This month at CFS - Energy & ASRS Readiness (May)

Bellevue Gold's story shows what is possible when energy strategy and sustainability strategy work together. If your organisation needs help understanding your Green gold commercial model, preparing for ASRS mandatory disclosure, or building a transition plan that stands up to scrutiny, get in touch by emailing Bronwyn directly.