Thiess has signed an agreement with Australia-based Mine Energy Solutions that could see the use of locally-sourced gas to displace diesel in large mining trucks using MES’ “currently available and proven” dual-fuel technology.
The agreement to bring lower emission, dual-fuel technology to Thiess’ mining fleet represents a first for a mining services provider in the industry, the company said.
The partnership will commence with the conversion of a fleet of six mining trucks and seek to source gas on site to allow the removal of the equivalent B Double diesel deliveries from local highways, reducing congestion and making it safer for regional families, Thiess said. Longer term, Thiess and MES will seek to expand to full fleet conversion before exploring further opportunities both within Australia and Internationally.
Thiess CEO, Douglas Thompson, said: “Partnerships like this ensure Thiess is playing a role in reducing emissions on our operations and leading the path to decarbonisation of the industry.”
MES’ CEO, Adrian Abbott, added: “We’re proud to partner with Thiess and apply this technology in the Bowen Basin. Our focus is to use locally-sourced gas through the capture and use of fugitive methane contained in the coal resource to enable the average mine site to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint by more than 550,000 t of CO2-e per annum.”