What Chilean mining players should consider in their sustainability strategies

With the Chilean copper mining industry pushing ahead with decarbonization and electrification, the pitfalls need to be considered, as power infrastructure, electric vehicles, charging points and conversion systems and technologies must be made interoperable, an event was told.

Also, operations must be set up so they can be monitored online from the mine to the port, Ignacio Muñoz, automation and electrification manager at Swedish-Swiss technology firm ABB, told last week's Net Zero Mining Forum in Santiago.

Apart from helping to reduce emissions, trolley solutions for high-tonnage extraction trucks also require less maintenance, he said.

However, routes change over time and "potholes can be obstacles in the circuit. Considering that they are mostly productive routes, there is generally no time to remedy them," said Muñoz, whose company is piloting a trolley prototype for Antofagasta Minerals.

This year, the MT42 SG battery-powered electric mining truck, developed by ABB and Epiroc, successfully completed tests on an 800m track with a 13% slope in an underground mine in Sweden.

“This means that the mining industry is one step closer to making fully electric mines a reality,” Muñoz said.

Mauricio Gálvez, cybersecurity manager for Latin America at technology company Tivit, told BNamericas that "Chilean mining is already a leader in automation and the use of artificial intelligence in mining operations."

UNDERGROUND MINING

Due to the drop in Chilean ore grades, underground mining is emerging as an alternative, Fidel Baez, senior adviser at Universidad de Chile's advanced mining technology center, told the event.

Copper mines Collahuasi, Escondida, Ministro Hales, Andina, Chuquicamata and Los Bronces have projects to transition from open pit to underground operations, Baez said.

Furthermore, underground mining leaves a smaller environmental footprint. Chilean state miner "Codelco's underground mining operations do not cover more than 2% of the total emissions of all our mining," said the company's director of innovation, processes and decarbonization, Gonzalo Ramírez.

He added that Codelco will continue developing underground initiatives as part of its carbon neutrality strategy.

In 2023, 66.6% of the sector's electricity consumption came from clean sources and the figure is expected to rise to 78.1% by 2026, according to a report by copper commission Cochilco.

The national mining policy projects that 96% of electric power used in the sector will come from renewable sources by 2050.