Iron ore rivals Rio Tinto and BHP will partner up on the development of battery-electric haul trucks in the Pilbara, while Fortescue is pushing along with its hydrogen haulage ambitions.
Iron ore rivals Rio Tinto and BHP will partner up on the development of battery-electric haul trucks in the Pilbara, while Fortescue is pushing along with its hydrogen haulage ambitions.
Rio and BHP, which together exported almost 600 million tonnes of iron ore last financial year, will work with Caterpillar and Komatsu to conduct trials of battery-electric haul trucks in the economic powerhouse region.
The trial is part of a commitment by the four companies to support a shared vision of net zero operational emissions from the region by 2050.
Two Caterpillar haul trucks will be trialed in the second half of this year, with two Komatsu trucks to get a run from 2026.
The outcomes of the technology trial will be shared between the two miners, with testing, development and refinement to follow in consultation with the manufacturers.
The miners hope the trial will inform an approach for testing of more haul trucks in future, with a view to one day electrifying their Pilbara fleets.
“Operational decarbonisation relies on breakthroughs in technology and partnerships like this will help drive our industry forward,” BHP’s Australian president Geraldine Slattery said.
“We are thrilled to work with Rio Tinto, Caterpillar and Komatsu on these trials.”
Rio’s iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said the collaboration of heavyweights would lead to better results than going it alone.
“There is no clear path to net zero without zero-emissions haulage, so it’s important that we work together to get there as quickly and efficiently as we can,” he said.
“Testing two types of battery-electric haul trucks in Pilbara conditions will provide better data, and by combining our efforts with BHP we will accelerate learning.
“As we work to repower our Pilbara operations with renewable energy, collaborations like this move us closer to solving the shared challenge of decarbonising our operations and meeting our net zero commitments.”
Rio and BHP previously worked with Caterpillar and Komatsu in 2021 to support the development of prototype battery-electric haul trucks, and the trucks to be trialed are based on those prototypes.
Carbon emissions from diesel consumption accounted for around 12 per cent of Rio’s scope one and scope two emissions in 2023, and around 40 per cent of BHP’s scope one and two emissions in the 2020 financial year.
The pair, alongside other major regional industrial organisations operating in the Pilbara, are also part of the state government’s Pilbara Industry Roundtable – exploring common-use energy infrastructure for the region.
Their announcement comes days after fellow iron ore miner Fortescue revealed it had run a hydrogen-powered prototype haul truck using hydrogen as a fuel for the first time.
Operating under partnership with Liebherr Mining, the company has developed the hydrogen-fueled truck – dubbed Europa – and will soon take it to site.
It follows a test last year of Fortescue’s own battery-electric haulage truck at Christmas Creek.
“Following the success of our battery-electric haul truck prototype at site we are thrilled to now have Europa up and running on hydrogen,” Fortescue metals chief executive Dino Otranto said.
“This is a huge achievement for the team and brings us a step closer to having a fleet of zero emissions trucks at our sites by the end of the decade.”
