Pueblo Viejo, Goldcorp’s joint venture gold mine in the Dominican Republic, has just taken a huge step towards becoming a more sustainable mine.

One of the world’s largest gold mines, Pueblo Vieja, operated by Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC), a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation (60%) and Goldcorp (40%), announced that it has signed a 10-year natural gas supply contract, generating key cost-savings at the operation.

• The 1,640-megawatt natural gas plant in Citrus County will provide reliable energy to 1.8 million customers across 35 counties

• New plant will further reduce carbon emissions, allow retirement of coal-fired units

In the chronicles of Great Britain’s energy industry, 2017 will go down as a significant year. At a time already characterized by change and uncertainty, two events stand out. One signals a break with the past; the other suggests the shape of things to come.

In April, for the first time ever, Britain’s National Grid ran for 24 hours without any coal-generated power. In September, for the first time ever, the cost of wind power in Britain fell below that of nuclear power.

After the Fukushima disaster in 2011 and the subsequent sunsetting of many of Japan’s nuclear facilities, the Japanese economy’s reliance on fossil fuels intensified and altered the country’s energy mix. In the following years, major suppliers profited from rising demand in Asian markets and promoted the benefits of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Its ability to be transported easily with minimal infrastructure requirements, as well as drastically lower prices compared to domestic or stranded gas prices, led to a tremendous buildup of liquefaction capacity globally.