RENEWABLE ENERGY31 JUL 2026A second life for mine wasteA groundbreaking solar photovoltaic (PV) project at Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape is…Sheree Bega7 min read

Sishen solar project shows how rehabilitated mining land could help power South Africa’s energy transition A rehabilitated waste rock dump at Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine is offering a new vision for South Africa’s mining legacy, as the country’s first embedded solar photovoltaic (PV) project on rehabilitated mine waste reaches financial close. Experts say the project represents a new chapter in mine rehabilitation, demonstrating how former mining land can continue generating value long after extraction ends. The 63MW facility near Kathu in the Northern Cape will be built on the rehabilitated G80 waste rock dump, generating renewable electricity from land that would otherwise have limited productive use while avoiding pressure on undeveloped or agricultural areas.

The project is jointly owned by Envusa Energy and the Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust, which holds a 10% stake, with all electricity supplied to the Sishen mine. Envusa Energy chief executive Nicole Mason described the project as a breakthrough that showed how renewable energy infrastructure could be integrated into previously disturbed mining land instead of competing with agricultural or residential land. “This approach supports rehabilitation while avoiding the sterilisation of productive land for other uses,” she said, adding that it offered a practical model for other mining operations by demonstrating how legacy mining areas could be transformed into renewable energy assets. Built atop a rehabilitated waste rock dump about 20-storeys high and covering roughly 100ha, the project required innovative engineering to accommodate long-term ground settlement, including adjustable solar mounting structures and a mobile substation.