Global miner Glencore has announced that it has joined Komatsu’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Alliance, a collaborative effort focused on working towards the development, testing and deployment of zero-emission mining equipment and solutions. Alliance members have specifically been working to advance Komatsu’s power agnostic truck concept for a haulage vehicle that can run on a variety of power sources including diesel engine, battery as well as hydrogen fuel cells with both static and dynamic charging capabilities.
Troy Wilson, Glencore Head of Operational Excellence at Technology for Copper said: “We are excited to join the Komatsu GHG Alliance and work alongside other industry leaders to advance mining technology toward zero emissions. This collaboration is part of our continued dialogue with Komatsu and will help inform Glencore’s approach to implementing technological innovation in heavy mining equipment.”
The Tier 1 mining major has already made some important steps in its journey to net zero – trolley assist pilots are planned in the next two years at its South American copper sites which will not only contribute towards a meaningful reduction in the diesel consumption of its installed fleets but will also establish the necessary technology deployment experience and capability to support its potential growth projects, such as El Pachon in Argentina. If these pilots are successful it will also put Glencore in a good position to trial battery-trolley truck operation ie dynamic charging.
Glencore’s fully owned copper mines in South America are Antapaccay in Peru and Lomas Bayas in Chile. Both of these operations are well set up to run trolley pilots as they already have the latest large electric drive Komatsu haul trucks in place, including the 400 ton class Komatsu 980E-5 at Antapaccay, with 23 new units that began delivery in 2021 and the 320 ton class 930E-5 at Lomas Bayas, where an order for 27 new units was fulfilled in 2020/2021. And these operations are no stranger to innovation either – both mines have also begun implementing autonomy on their blasthole drill rigs using the ARDVARC system from FLANDERS.
Glencore has also begun automating its haul trucks – at Lomas Bayas, a first AHS stage involving four Komatsu 930E-5 haul trucks using Komatsu’s FrontRunner system has begun for an autonomous day and night shift operation in a circuit of approximately 1 km within an area segregated from the rest of the conventional operation. If this pilot testing succeeds, the project will see a gradual increase the number of autonomous trucks until the entire fleet of 27 trucks goes autonomous by 2025.