Rolls-Royce Solutions and its Chile-based distributor Detroit Chile S.A. have helped lower emissions associated with Anglo American’s Los Bronces haulage operation thanks to a strategic engine repowering project on its 30-strong fleet of Komatsu 930E haul trucks.

The project for Los Bronces, a copper mine in Chile, originated with the mining company looking to comply with incoming emission guidelines for mine operations, as well as Anglo American’s own plans to make operations increasingly sustainable over the long term.

For the fleet at the Chile mine, the company was looking at engines to repower the trucks that would meet the emissions targets without compromising performance. Together with Detroit Chile S.A., the company found what it was looking for in the mtu Series 16V 4000 C05, which, in addition to significant emission savings, also offered other benefits for operations in the South American mine, Rolls-Royce says.

This project kicked off back in January 2018, with all 30 trucks in the fleet having now been equipped with mtu engines. An operating time of around 24,000 hours was calculated for each engine and, up to today, this fleet has surpassed 720,000 cumulative operating hours.

“Another and undoubtedly the biggest benefit of this repower project is the cleaner operation of these engines, or the tremendous reduction of emissions,” Rolls-Royce says. “To comply with local emissions regulations, the previous engines required to add a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to meet Tier 4 emissions. This includes additional maintenance and extra failure points that impact truck operation, the use of Diesel Exhaust Fluid and the potential for the catalyst to become contaminated at any time through regular operation of the truck, requiring replacement of the catalyst.

“Since the mtu engine meets Tier 4 emissions without the SCR system, this results in less downtime, less maintenance and lower operating costs.”

With the mtu Series 16V 4000 C05 engines, Anglo American is cutting CO2, particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to Rolls-Royce. These engines comply with US EPA Tier 4 regulations, they consume less fuel than Tier 2 engines and still deliver the same power as previous engines.

Since the start of the repower project in January 2018, around 9,960 t of CO2, 91 t of particulate matter and over 3,000 t of nitrogen oxide have been eliminated, according to Rolls-Royce. As a result, the mining haul trucks meet local emission targets and bring Anglo Americans operations at the Los Bronces mine closer to the goal of net zero.

Rolls-Royce said: “An important factor in the decision for our solutions was the holistic approach: together with Detroit Chile S.A., we were able to provide engines, repower kits and ongoing comprehensive service that gets the most out of the mtu engine.

“The first of the trucks recently achieved over 24,000 hours of operating time, in mid-2023, and is still operating as expected. This proves the project is a strong, sustainable milestone not only for Anglo American, but also for other mining companies.

“The future has already begun and together, we are providing a cleaner future for the world.”