How green hydrogen could transform Chile’s mining industry

Green hydrogen has a 70% chance of replacing fossil fuels in Chile's mining industry, although costs, operational reliability, and demand are challenges that need to be overcome.

José Ignacio Galindo, CEO of Austria-based hydrogen mobility company Alset Global, said during a webcast hosted by German-Chilean commerce chamber Camchal on Tuesday that operational reliability is key for mining companies because transportation is crucial for production.

And Jeanette von Wolfersdorff, member of the advisory committee on Chile’s green hydrogen strategy, said “green hydrogen could be an opportunity for Chile to go beyond an economy dominated by extractive industries. Chile could become a green hydrogen exporter.”

But, she said during the webcast, “the country needs stakeholders that could lead innovation ecosystems, boost piloting and also guarantee a demand. The mining industry will play a key role for the use of green hydrogen in Chile.”

Alset’s Galindo said over 1,500 haul trucks are operating in Chile and count among the biggest fossil fuel consumers in the industry. Every day, each truck needs around 3,500l of diesel, consuming the energy 700kg of hydrogen could provide. 

“If all mining trucks would use it as a fuel, the hydrogen industry will certainly [see a] boost,” Galindo said. 

Ulf Gehrckens, senior VP of corporate energy and climate affairs at global non-ferrous metals provider Aurubis, said green hydrogen could contribute even more to decarbonization in the copper industry.

Despite the need of further technical and metallurgical research and tests, Gehrckens said green hydrogen could substitute natural gas in the fire refining step during primary copper production, when most of the oxygen is removed from the blister copper before it is cast into anodes. 

Andrés Guerrero, CEO of San Pedro, a small Chilean miner, suggested that using green hydrogen as a fuel in underground operations would reduce pollution and help ventilation requirements.

Government promotion agency Corfo is supporting three hydrogen-related projects involving transformation of diesel trucks, the use of hydrogen cells in underground mines, and the design and construction of a hybrid engine prototype with hydrogen-based batteries and cells to be used also in mining trucks. 

However, according to Mario Ragwitz, representative of the Fraunhofer Institute’s Hydrogen Network, to achieve green hydrogen production, authorities should improve the energy system. This requires political commitment and a roadmap which offers clarity on social and environmental performance standards and socio-economic development.

Chilean authorities are working on the 2050 green hydrogen strategy, expected to be ready by the end of the year.

Photo credit: Chile's mining ministry