PERSPECTIVES
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE
DECARBONISATION OF MINING
Ben Hall CPEng, CPMining, FAusIMM
Executive Consultant, RPMGlobal
August 2021
INTRODUCTION
Our modern society needs the minerals that mining
produces in ever-greater demand. According to research
by McKinsey’s Basic Materials Institute, the demand for
minerals means mining is currently responsible for 4-7%
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. There is no
doubt that for the industry to be accepted as the vital
part of the world community it is, decarbonisation of
mining is essential.
The journey looks insurmountable to some in the
industry, but mining has been going along a path of
similar complexity for some time. The safety journey
the industry has taken over the last 30 years points to
the improvements that can be made when the targets
are accepted as necessary and industry best practice.
That we no longer accept harm to our people at work
demonstrates that we can set and achieve similar targets
in decarbonisation.
Similar to the safety journey, no single improvement, no
single system, and no single change will produce the result
we need. Decarbonisation is a journey of many steps that
will deliver results as incremental improvements. Like
safety and performance improvements, it is logical to
adopt the easiest and cheapest changes first, which pave
the way for the industry to tackle the more complex.
1
Electric mining excavator
THE NEED FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Mining and the associated minerals processing is by its
inherent nature an energy-intensive industry. Geology
has dispersed valuable minerals in minute quantities
throughout the orebodies and geography has placed
these some distance from the end-users. These facts
can’t be changed, so the mining industry must continue
its journey to reduce the energy it uses and source that
energy from acceptable sources.
Mining has developed based on cheap, reliable energy.
There is now an imperative to adapt processes to
environmentally acceptable energy sources. This will
require fundamental changes to the key energy intensive
processes such as extraction, comminution, and transport.
The easiest steps are not ones of introducing new
equipment, but instead, looking at energy efficiency in a
similar manner to cost and capital efficiency, incremental
steps to reduce, substitute, and eliminate the use of
energy are the simplest way to reduce the carbon
footprint of an operation.
For example, a remote mine site is often powered by a The downside to electrification is that, unlike chemical
diesel fuelled power station. A series of steps that could energy sources, it is very hard to store. In true electrical
be introduced to reduce its carbon footprint include: storage applications, like capacitors, the energy density is
trivial when compared to a typical mining process. For
• Changing from diesel to gas fuel; mobile applications electrical energy is almost always
• Automation of the power generation system to stored as chemical energy and converted through use of
optimise the fuel efficiency of each engine; a battery, fuel cell, or internal combustion engine. Each
• Waste heat recovery for use in heating / cooling of these devices then poses its own challenges in terms
applications on site; of carbon emissions, conversion efficiency, or energy
storage level.
• Flexible energy storage to balance the load
demands on the generating units; and
• Supplementing the carbon fuelled generating DIFFERENT MINES NEED DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS
assets with renewable sources.
While mining uses common principles, the wide variety
Improving process efficiency along the value chain can of geological, geotechnical, and geographical conditions
also add to downstream carbon reduction. For example, associated with each orebody will result in mines having a
increased filtration performance lowers the volume wide range of operating conditions. The hereby demand
of water in the product transported offsite, thereby of a site and the success of an environmentally friendly
reducing transport carbon emissions. power source will therefore also vary greatly.

Furthermore, onsite processing can reduce transportation Some of the factors that will affect the choice of an
costs through only the valuable component of the energy supply include:
minerals being sent to the customer. The most extreme
example of this that has been adopted over the last fifty • Demand
years is in the power industry. Until the 1970s, many • Orebody shape
power stations were built in populated areas where • Strike length
the demand was with the coal and water supply being • Depth
transported to them. This has now changed to the
• Rock hardness
power stations being co-located with (or near) the coal
• Grain size
supply with the contained energy being transported as
electricity through wires. • Product parameters
• Climate
• Topography
DECARBONISATION MEANS ELECTRIFICATION • Distance from an existing power source
• Distance from a water source
Generally, mining processes require energy in the end • Distance from a workforce
form for mechanical energy to break apart, separate, and • Distance from market
transport minerals. Our current technology has made • Supply
the generation of electrical energy from environmentally • Mine life
acceptable sources a practical reality. Added to this is the • Climate
fact that the conversion of electrical to mechanical energy • Topography
is much more efficient than chemical to mechanical
• Existing power sources
energy.

For the mining industry, this means that the journey to

decarbonisation is, at least in the short to medium term,
a journey towards electrification.

One of the great benefits of energy in an electrical form is

its ease of transportation and use. This provides the ability
in most applications to widely separate the power source
from the point of end-use to allow for optimisation of
each. Mining has already widely adopted this approach
through sourcing electrical power from large power
stations, often many hundreds of kilometres away. This
also allows for a mining operation to receive the benefits
of economies of scale as they are not the only user of the
power. Topography is one factor that can affect the choice of an
energy supply

2

Consideration of these factors leads to a range of possible
technologies that can be applied either individually, or
more likely in combination to reduce the carbon footprint
of the mine. Some examples include;
• Power supplies
• Wind
• Solar
• Hydro
• Batteries
• Hydrogen fuel cells
• Geothermal
• Waste heat
• Gas backup
• Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
• Mine site equipment
• Battery powered vehicles
• Trolley powered vehicles
• Fuel cell powered vehicles
• Tethered cable electric vehicles
• In pit conveying and crushing
• Rail-Veyor
• High angle conveyors
• Slurry pumping
• Hoisting
• Aerial ropeways
Every solution has advantages and disadvantages and
every solution will require the industry to change its
existing practices. It is most likely that a combinations
of solutions will be required to balance out variability in
supply and demand.
The benefit is not just the direct carbon saving by
electrifying the process. Downstream and associated
benefits can accrue from a change in the operating
conditions or interim products. Examples include:
• Reduced underground ventilation due to less heat
and fumes from electric vehicles.
• Reduced power demand in the crushing circuit from
the finer blasting required for electric shovels or
bucket wheel excavators.
• Conveyors not only reduce the amount of truck
movements but also have a smaller footprint and less
traffic requiring narrower roads with far less road
maintenance. This reduces grader and dozer use as
well as truck use. It also reduces the areas required
to be cleared of vegetation.
• Aerial ropeways minimise the footprint even further
reducing the need to clear land.
Many of these technologies already exist. Some of the
solutions have been used by mining in the past but were
replaced by diesel-powered machinery. It may require a
return to older practices (such as trailing cables in the pit)
to achieve the reductions required.
3
CHANGE THE PROCESS, NOT JUST THE EQUIPMENT
Our mining processes have become highly optimised
to match the equipment that is available. Given this,
it is not surprising that many attempts to introduce
carbon-reducing technologies are unsuccessful when
implemented into existing mine designs.
Pit design is often optimised to the most economic pit
shell based on economic analysis. This often results in
a design with few straight lines that suits truck shovel
operations, but is poorly suited to conveyor operations.
The mine design process needs to be adjusted to take
into account the relative costs of an optimal design for
the equipment proposed. This may result in a pit that
is larger with more waste movement, but allows for
the application of cheaper and more environmentally
friendly mining equipment.
Similarly, the pit schedule is driven by economics
whereby the order of mining is based on the marginal
cost of extraction. In most cases this results in the mine
developed from a top down perspective. Such a schedule
negates many of the advantages of alternate mining
equipment that requires installation to final depth. An
alternative schedule that sees the pit reach full depth
early, before being developed laterally, may allow for
alternates to be deployed.
Material movement is often optimised to provide a
predictable feed grade to the process plant and minimise
double handling. As a result, the mine schedule often
requires activities to be relocated across the deposit at
short intervals.
Alternatively, a bulk mining method with interim
stockpiles could be used to allow for a more contiguous
development of the pit that is suited to environmentally
friendly mining equipment.
Capital efficiency analysis has seen the adoption of
continuous operations throughout most of the mining
activities. This leads to a constant power requirement
that doesn’t match the use of renewable power sources
like solar. Some mining processes can however be
undertaken in a batch process and scheduled to coincide
with times of peak power production. Drilling can be
undertaken on day shift, only with an increase in the
drilling fleet. Crushing could be undertaken on day shift
only with the use of crushed ore stockpiles.
An increase in blasting fragmentation can allow for
the application of different mining equipment. Electric
rope shovels and bucket excavators have limited ability
to extract consolidated materials but can be used
efficiently in well blasted materials. This has the added
advantages of providing a material size more suited to
conveyor equipment and reducing downstream power
consumption in the crushing circuit.
KEY SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES
Such significant change may appear to be too complex
for the industry, but mining has a long and rich tradition
of developing technology to solve problems. In the
case of decarbonisation, some of the key supporting
technologies are:
• Integrated mine planning tools that allow for widely
disparate mine designs and schedules to be rapidly
analysed.
• Simulation tools that allow mine designers and
operators the ability to test and optimise equipment
selection choices digitally prior to making capital
investment decisions.
• Automation to achieve consistency in operations.
• Complex control systems that optimise energy
efficiency on both the supply and demand side.
• Remote operations to remove people from danger
and harsh conditions with the added advantage
of reducing carbon emissions associated with
personnel transport and accommodation.
• Data science to analyse the results and feed the
improvement cycle
THE ECONOMICS OF CARBON
In an industry driven by net present value (NPV)
economics, the adoption of decarbonisation technologies
is often marginal. Successful projects to date have relied
on the presence of a major contributing factor to change
the economics such as:
• Lost cost power
• High fossil fuel costs
• Local geography that suits particular equipment
• Local weather that precludes the use of traditional
equipment
• The need to reduce the local footprint
Changes within the finance market in the last few years
have seen carbon have a tangible value in the cost of
capital. Debt and equity providers are now costing
their capital at different rates depending on the carbon
performance of the proposed investment. This means
that competing solutions must be analysed at different
weighted average costs of capital (WACCs) based on
their carbon footprint.
Similarly, the market is now pricing products differently
depending on their carbon footprint. Environmentally
friendly products are able to attract price premiums. The
economic analysis of a project needs to include different
income streams from different planned operations of
the same ore body that capture the additional margin in
green products.
Some jurisdictions have introduced an external cost of
carbon to encourage carbon reduction. If present, these
also need to be factored in differently into the analysis of
different planned operations of the same ore body.
4
CURRENT LIMITATIONS
While there’s a strong drive by the mining industry to
decarbonise, the current technology has some limitation
that is affecting the pace of change. These include;
• Batteries
• Limited charge / discharge cycles
• Cost
• Physical size and weight
• Hydrogen fuel cells
• Low power density
• Difficulties in fuel handling
• Poor power reversibility
• Solar
• Intermittent generation
• Large local footprint
• Wind power
• Intermittent generation
• Large local footprint
• Impact on local wildlife
• Hydroelectricity
• Lack of water
• Unsuitable geography
• Unsuitable climate
• Large local footprint
Despite these obstacles, the technologies are rapidly
advancing. Battery solutions for vehicles up to 500 kW
are now available from mainstream suppliers. Fast
charge and battery swap solutions exist that suit the
operational cycle. MW scale mobile applications are still
in the research and development stage. Many suppliers
have adopted different commercial solutions to reduce
the capital cost impact of the short battery life.
Many underground hard rock operations in North
America are now adopting commercial off the shelf
trucks, loaders, drill rigs and support vehicles to create all
electric mines. These vehicles were first introduced over
10 years ago and have now demonstrated the ability to
perform economically at typical underground mining
scale. It includes trucks of up to 50 tonne capacity and
loaders up to 18 tonnes that meet the need of even the
largest operations. The benefit is not only in reduced
carbon dioxide emissions but also in reduced ventilation
requirements through lower heat and fume loads, and a
healthier working environment underground.
For open cut applications the technology is developing
at a rapid pace. Operations with downhill hauling
requirements in both Switzerland and New Zealand
have successfully applied battery electric trucks where
the loaded downhill haul provides sufficient energy
recovery to offset the unloaded uphill return journey. In
these cases, it has almost fully eliminated the need for
charging.
Several operations in Africa with access to low cost
hydroelectric power are adopting technology such as
trolley assist to lower their diesel use, improve uphill
truck speeds, and reduce greenhouse emissions.

The largest challenge is loaded uphill haulage that many

mines require. Systems such as fast charging, battery
swapping, and charging via trolley assist are being studied
in combination to match the haul cycle parameters of
different mines. In these vases simulation of the system
performance in advance of implementation is allowing
for the systems to be fine tuned that increases the
likelihood for success.

While large wind and solar farms exist at the scale

necessary to power mines, the reliability of these
systems is affected by their cyclical and intermittent
generation. Battery storage solutions of the scale
required to support a mine are not yet in production. To
offset these issues diversity of renewable power supplies
required. A combination of different energy sources and
storage solutions supported by a well developed grid
system allows for transfer of power between areas to
offset issues with local weather conditions and variable
demand.
Trolley assist mine haulage truck

ABOUT AUTHOR

Ben is an engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the mining industry. Broadly qualified in
Mechanical, Mining, and Cost Engineering, he has worked in operational roles in coal, base
metals, iron ore, and uranium mines across Australia. He has been part of the RPMGlobal
study team for both greenfields and brownfields projects in Australia, Asia, and Africa,
including Project Engineering Manager, infrastructure design, equipment selection and
cost analysis. Ben has provided technical advice to various financial institutions and as an
expert witness in the fields of mine infrastructure and equipment. More recently, he has
been involved in a number of projects that have considered a range of technical solutions
that can be applied to improve the environmental performance of both underground and
open cut mines.

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