Stronghold seeks permit to mine with tire-derived energy

The American miner Stronghold Digital Mining has filed an application with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for approval to mine cryptocurrency using energy derived from burning tires. Local media report.

The project is being implemented at the Panther Creek plant in Nesquehoning.

According to the filings, Stronghold plans to derive up to 15% of its energy capacity this way.

In the filing, the mining company cited permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use tires as an energy source at other industrial facilities in the state.

The company submitted the request to the regulator in July, but this information did not reach the public until the end of August. Local environmentalists are preparing protests.

Activists stressed the questionable status of facilities already using such a method to generate industrial energy, and urged a ban on Stronghold.

“Because Panther Creek uses the electricity produced for cryptocurrency mining, rather than selling it to utilities, the facility should re-apply for the permit as a waste-to-incineration plant, which would subject the site to heightened air pollution monitoring requirements,” said Russell Zerbov, a representative of the Clean Air Council.

The Earthjustice attorney Charles McFedran noted that emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides rose sharply after Stronghold acquired the Pennsylvania plant in 2021.

In August 2022, the company announced steps to restructure its debt, reducing Bitcoin mining capacity.

In the same month, the firm agreed with Whitehawk to extend the loan maturity and establish a new $20 million credit line. Later the miner restructured repayments on the remaining debt of about $54.9 million and signed a hosting agreement with Foundry.

In October Stronghold terminated the deal with infrastructure provider Northern Data. The move is expected to save the company between $10 million and $25 million by September 2024.

In summer 2023, Nodal Power raised $13 million for a project to convert landfill methane into renewable energy, part of which is used for cryptocurrency mining.