Four years ago, Anglo American could not find any industry partners to support its idea of replacing giant diesel trucks in surface mining with climate-friendly green hydrogen vehicles. However, after backing the concept with up to $70 million of its investment, the global mining company unveiled a new 220-ton vehicle capable of carrying around 290 tonnes of ore without global variability in process emissions.
By replacing mine haul trucks with hydrogen-fuelled trucks, emissions from Anglo American’s open-pit mines will reduce by a whopping 80 per cent, an essential step in the company’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Anglo’s prototype truck is part of the company’s NuGen program, including a solar system for producing green hydrogen at the mine.
Tony O’Neill, Group Director – Technical & Sustainability, said that the company had spent tens of millions of dollars rolling out its prototype. As technology develops, economies of scale will come into play, and costs will decrease. A typical diesel mining truck can cost anywhere from $6 million to $7 million each.
