Mining and green hydrogen – a marriage made in heaven?

Experts believe that mining will be key in the development of the green hydrogen industry, just as it was in promoting desalination plants and renewable energy to reduce water consumption and carbon footprints.

The transport of ore and waste using high-tonnage trucks represented 79.7% of the direct GHG emissions of the Chilean copper industry in 2020, according to state copper commission Cochilco.

"Most mining companies have set staggered goals that, in many cases, seek to reduce carbon emissions by 50% between 2030 and 2035 to reach carbon neutrality in 2050," Pablo Peñaranda, business development director for Latin America at Black & Veatch, told BNamericas.

For this reason, the industry must “reduce the consumption of fuels such as gas, diesel, fuel oil and coal to introduce electromobility, change fleets from secondary or light equipment to electric or hydrogen, and make a transition of operating primary equipment, such as hybrid or fully electric mining trucks, including trolley systems and fast charging stations,” added Peñaranda.

The decarbonization of mining transport also involves other equipment that uses diesel such as backhoes, forklifts, tank trucks and drills. That is partly what motivated the Chilean government's promotion of the green hydrogen industry. Authorities on Thursday announced the formation of a group of experts that will work on measures to implement a green hydrogen roadmap that will consider mining's needs.

A US$400mn loan from the Inter-American Development Bank will be used for the plan.

Anglo American initiatives

Anglo American's copper mining subsidiary in Chile is leading a study to install what it calls a green hydrogen valley in the Santiago metropolitan and Valparaíso regions that would displace about 3,000kt/y of CO2, equivalent to removing 850,000 cars from circulation, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The study concluded that the places with the greatest potential for both green hydrogen production and demand in the central zone of the country – where the company operates the Los Bronces and El Soldado mines – would be Llay Llay, Quintero, Pudahuel, San Antonio, Los Andes, Tiltil, Colina and Paine.

The project could generate some US$3.5bn of initial investments and more than 10,000 jobs, since the demand for the fuel by 2040 could reach 800,000t/y, according to the company. The Chilean mining sector would represent between 50% and 70% of the total demand, the miner added.

Anglo has been involved since 2021 in a project to develop a prototype forklift truck that would be powered by 10kW fuel cells that will include a system for the production, storage, dispensing and consumption of green hydrogen. The electricity supply would come from the solar plants that the company owns in the Las Tórtolas reservoir.

London-based Anglo also aims to scale its green hydrogen-powered mine haul truck that it currently uses at its Mogalakwena platinum mine in South Africa to all its global operations by 2040, the company said in its latest annual report.