I just saw that global miner, Anglo American, is about to develop the world’s biggest electric haul truck.
They’ve turned to a U.S. engineering company to develop its new ‘Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle’, set to be the world’s largest hydrogen powered mine truck.
The truck is part of Anglo’s FutureSmart Mining, which applies innovative thinking and technological advances to address mining’s major sustainability challenges. Anglo American says it’s committed to reducing its global greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.
They’re not the only mining company making a bet on technology and sustainability. Electrification of mining transport is a big part of that, estimated to be a $20B market soon.
Here in Australia Oz Minerals is also betting on the future to cut emissions. They’re betting that solar, wind & energy storage can power up to 80% of their West Musgrove $1B copper & nickel mine 800kms west of Uluru.
“Large-scale solar photovoltaic and wind solutions are currently economically viable and technically mature solutions to reduce the project’s reliance on high cost fossil fuels for electricity generation,” the company said in a statement.
Rio Tinto has also just confirmed its investing $1B over the next 5 years to help meet new climate change targets. It wants to do it in 4 main ways:
- Produce materials essential for a low-carbon future like copper.
2. Reduce the carbon footprint of operations.
3. Partner to reduce the carbon footprint across the value chain.
4. Enhance resilience to physical climate risks.
It’s the sort of innovation we know the copper industry wants and one the world needs. We’re already committed to an industry wide approach as we undertake the Zero Emission Mine of the Future roadmap with Sydney Universtity’s Warrant Centre due for release mid year.
But more on that soon.
Cheers
John Fennell