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Last updated: 29 May 2025

Jessica, our Senior Manager of Diesel Transition Program, spoke with attendees at The Decarbonised Mine: , about how to operationalise mine decarbonisation.

Here are some of the key insights from her discussion.

Progress on the mining industry鈥檚 decarbonisation efforts

鈥淲e are making solid progress towards our targets. Our emissions are now 14% below baseline levels and we鈥檝e delivered 5 million tonnes (Mt) of operational emissions abatement since we set our targets,鈥� Jessica said.

鈥淲e are largely on track for 50% operational emissions reduction by 2030 with a pipeline of investments in place.

鈥淥ur single largest lever 鈥� accounting for around one quarter of our emissions 鈥� is at the Boyne and Tomago aluminium smelters in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. Repowering these operations remains a core priority to achieve the 2030 target.

鈥淭he first 50% of emissions reductions is the lowest cost and lowest risk portion of our emissions, largely related to renewable power. We鈥檙e now entering into the more challenging areas of our portfolio, this is mineral processing and diesel transition.

鈥淚n these areas, the key challenge is that the technology is simply not ready to be deployed in an operational setting in a safe and reliable way, and so our investments are focussed on maturing this technology.

鈥淓lectrification is also not technically or financially feasible at all mining operations today, or for all types of equipment. It鈥檚 well suited to our greenfield applications where we have large fleets, but less so to brownfield operations with smaller fleets, shorter mine life or other operational complexities.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we developing complementary pathways that include the use of renewable diesel to more immediately reduce diesel-sourced emissions.鈥�

The role of diesel transition in decarbonising mining and lessons learned

鈥淥ur diesel transition strategy is twofold 鈥� electrification and renewable diesel. This dual strategy enables us to optimise how we displace diesel, recognising that electrification won鈥檛 be viable at all of our operations,鈥� she said.

鈥淥ne of the most crucial lessons we've learned is maximising the value of demonstrations. These are critical, especially in areas where technology maturity is low, to build confidence before full-scale deployment. For example, we're currently demonstrating an electrification system at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, involving 8 battery electric trucks and a battery swapping station. This integrated approach ensures we test all elements comprehensively.

鈥淥n the renewable diesel front, we've had success in procuring renewable diesel where it鈥檚 available and stimulating the market where it鈥檚 not. In North America, our Kennecott and Boron operations have fully transitioned to renewable diesel. However, in Australia, the market is not as mature. To address this, we're investing in self-generation of renewable diesel, like our pongamia seed farming trial near Townsville in Queensland. This collaboration with Midway Limited highlights the importance of partnerships and strategic investments in new areas to stimulate industry growth.鈥�

Balancing the need for production with the urgency of funding energy transition

鈥淥ur projects typically enhance the value of our business by reducing our exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices and higher carbon costs,鈥� Jessica said.

鈥淥ur decarbonisation investment process is rigorous and aims to secure structural, long-term, cost-efficient solutions. But this balance is a real challenge where the technology is not mature and our understanding of value and risk is not as robust.

鈥淲e prioritise areas where there is a potential business case 鈥� where our objectives of value creation and emissions reduction align. For example, electrification offers potential long-term value due to the fundamental energy efficiency between diesel and electric engines.

鈥淭hen, we can start at a small scale through pilots and demonstrations, which allows us to build confidence early and de-risk the solution at a low cost.鈥�

Electrifying more mines depends on battery density

鈥淭he biggest step change development that will drive greater deployment of electrification is in battery density,鈥� she said.

鈥淧ut simply, the more dense a battery is, the more energy it can store, the heavier the duty cycles it can perform, and the longer its life. This means we can apply electrification to more mines, reducing operational complexity, making our operations safer and increasing the value of electrification investments.鈥�