By
Bena Ilyas
April 18th, 2024
The push to host a million miners by Black Rock and its subsidiary through natural gas energy supplies is best described as using the right energy to meet the right needs-in Bitcoin mining.
Black Rock Petroleum Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Optimum Mining Host Limited Liability Co to host and operate a total of 1 million digital currency mining machines. According to the official announcement, the Black Rock will play host to Optimum Mining’s hardware which is ready for shipment from China where regulatory clampdown has made the region an unfriendly zone for Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
The energy or power to operate the Bit Miners will include three Natural Gas producing sites located in Alberta Canada. The gas producing companies are a subsidiary of Black Rock, the Quirk Creek Gas plant operated by Caledonian Midstream Corporation. Per the announcement, the first batch of the miners, a total of 200,000 units are billed to be deployed and Optimum Mining Host will pay the associated costs involved in operating the machines.
“The contract term is 24-month contract with an optional 12-month extensions with prior notice. OMH will pay the fully loaded electrical supply costs,” the announcement reads. “OMH will maintain different electronic payment term in account of the fully loaded electrical costs, around 2 cents (USD) or $55.55 (USD) per miner per month as wholesale price. Payments can be made in US Dollar (USD) or Canadian Dollar (CDN). OMH will pay the host and maintenance services fee of 2.19 cents (USD) or $60.00 (USD) per miner per month.”
The agreement is full suite and will see Black Rock handle other crucial routine management roles including equipment installation, service, firmware updates, maintenance, and repair.
Black Rock Mining: Meeting the Right Need
The digital currency ecosystem came under great criticism in the past months as climate change concerns and the role of Bitcoin mining came under the radar. The clampdown on cryptocurrency activities by Chinese authorities also boils down on this, a scenario that called for self-introspection amongst industry stakeholders. The entire event has largely fueled the growing embrace of green energy options for mining Proof-of-Work (Pow) blockchain coins.
The push to host a million miners by Black Rock and its subsidiary through natural gas energy supplies is best described as using the right energy to meet the right needs-in Bitcoin mining.
“Caledonian Midstream is a great fit for Black Rock, and as demand for natural gas continues to grow, in Alberta and across North America, and the Quirk Creek property is perfectly situated to service those markets. Current production levels are good, and our engineers have looked at the property’s historical production records and analysed recent reserve evaluations, and we are confident we have the expertise, technology and resources to materially increase production and, in turn, the cash flow of the site and to host and operate bitcoin miners at an energy cost of circa three cents Canadian per KWH,” said Black Rock’s Chief Executive Officer, Zoltan Nagy.
The move has pitched the firm as a formidable player in the world of cryptocurrency mining which has other notable players like Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT), Argo Blockchain PLC (LON: ARB) amongst others. The Black Rock and Optimum Mining Host contract is billed to run for 24 months, with an option to extend by a year.