Mining

Rio Tinto purchases first battery-electric trains for the Pilbara

Rio Tinto has agreed to purchase four battery-electric trains for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of the company’s strategy to reduce its carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Rio Tinto purchased the four 7MWh FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives from Wabtec Corporation with production due to commence in the United States in 2023 ahead of initial trials in the Pilbara in early 2024. The locomotives, used to carry ore from the company’s mines to its ports, will be recharged at purpose-built charging stations at the port or mine. They will also be capable of generating additional energy while in transit through a regenerative braking system which takes energy from the train and uses it to recharge the onboard batteries. A full transition to net zero emissions technology of its entire fleet of rail locomotives would reduce Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s diesel-related carbon emissions in the Pilbara by around 30 per cent annually. Rio Tinto Managing Director of Port, Rail and Core Services Richard Cohen said delivery of the prototype locomotives will be an important early step for the company on the path toward a decarbonised Pilbara. “Our partnership with Wabtec is an investment in innovation and an acknowledgement of the need to increase the pace of our decarbonisation efforts. “Battery-electric locomotives offer significant potential for emissions reduction in the near term as we seek to reduce our Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions in the Pilbara by 50 per cent by 2030.” Rogerio Mendonca, President of Freight Equipment for Wabtec, said the FLXdrive is ideally suited to support Rio Tinto’s decarbonisation targets. “This locomotive provides the power, fuel savings and emissions reductions to cost-effectively run rail networks in the mining industry. The rapid adoption of the FLXdrive by Rio Tinto and other mining operators demonstrates […]

Rio Tinto and Caterpillar for zero-emissions trucks

Rio Tinto and Caterpillar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Caterpillar’s development of zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks for use at one of Rio Tinto’s Western Australian mining operations. The collaboration will see Rio Tinto work with Caterpillar to advance the development of the manufacturer’s future 220-tonne 793 zero-emissions autonomous haul truck including the validation of Caterpillar’s emerging zero-emissions technology. Rio Tinto and Caterpillar will progress a series of development milestones to include a 793 prototype pilot program, testing and pre-production trials. It is anticipated that the world’s first operational deployment of approximately 35 new Caterpillar 793 zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks will be at Gudai-Darri once development is complete. Gudai-Darri is Rio Tinto’s most technically advanced iron ore mine, in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Rio Tinto’s Chief Commercial Officer Alf Barrios said “Our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our operations is a priority. Reaching this ambition will require new and innovative solutions and partnerships with supplier partners like Caterpillar. This collaboration represents a small but important step on that journey. “We look forward to working together to validate these zero-emissions haul trucks in just a few years’ time. The advanced technology at Gudai-Darri puts it at the forefront of new mining operations globally and we look forward to adding Caterpillar zero-emissions haul trucks to the site.” Caterpillar Group President Denise Johnson said, “The integration of autonomy with a zero-emissions fleet demonstrates Rio Tinto’s commitment to reach net zero emissions. “By leveraging these technologies across their sites, Rio Tinto can more safely increase productivity, efficiency and be more sustainable. We are pleased to be part of Rio Tinto’s sustainability journey and look forward to building on our long-standing collaboration.” In June, Rio Tinto announced it would deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water truck at Gudai-Darri, which will […]

Government backs world-class steelmaking coal mine

Australian Resources and Energy Group AMMA congratulates the Australian Government on its decision to support a world class new metallurgical coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The Commonwealth’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) today announced it would loan $175 million to Pembroke Resources’ major job-creating Olive Downs Mine, situated in the coking coal capital of the world. “With today’s NAIF funding announcement, Pembroke Resources is a step closer to delivering this nationally significant project at a time when Australia needs it most,” Steve Knott AM, Chief Executive of AMMA, said. “As the economy pushes through the disruption of Covid-19, it is now more critical than ever for governments to support large private sector investments in any way they can. The Australian Government should be applauded for providing finance to exactly the type of project the NAIF was created to support. “The Government’s support also sends a positive signal to the investment community that Australia is open for business when it comes to new major resources and energy projects. “Olive Downs will be a technologically-advanced mine, providing high quality coking coal to the global steel industry. It is a shining example of the high-value projects which underpin our industry’s bright future. “The project will create around 700 jobs during construction, with more than 1000 employment opportunities once at peak production. “It is also forecast to deliver around $10 billion to the state economy over the life of mine, as well as provide vital stimulus for businesses along the supply chain and in regional communities.” Construction of the Olive Downs Mine is expected to take 18 months, with Pembroke Resources providing opportunities for workers to live in nearby towns Moranbah, Dysart and Mackay. The company is also partnering with the Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation to deliver training and employment initiatives within Traditional […]

Rio Tinto to deploy world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at Gudai-Darri

Rio Tinto will deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at its $2.6 billion Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The new vehicles, primarily used for dust suppression on site, will enhance productivity by enabling mine operations to digitally track water consumption and reduce waste. Developed through a successful collaboration with leading equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar, three water trucks will join Gudai-Darri’s fleet of Caterpillar heavy mobile equipment including autonomous haul trucks and production drills. The vehicle’s intelligent on-board system detects dry and dusty conditions on site, triggering the application of water to roads to keep them in good condition. The refilling process is also completely automated with the water trucks recognising when it is time to refill, prompting them to self-drive to the water stand, park and top-up before returning to the field. They boast a 160,000-litre tank capacity, a 33 per cent increase on Rio Tinto’s largest water truck which has a tank capacity of 120,000-litres. Once deployed, the water trucks will be integrated into Rio Tinto’s existing Autonomous Haulage System which has been shown to significantly improve safety by reducing the risks associated with operators working around heavy machinery. Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Simon Trott said “We have worked closely with Caterpillar to safely and successfully deploy the world’s first fully autonomous water truck. Water spraying is a vital part of mining operations and this new technology will improve productivity and reduce water usage across our operations. “The continued expansion of our autonomous fleet helps improve safety and continues Rio Tinto’s efforts to adopt world-leading technology to enhance our operations and realise our vision of making Gudai-Darri one of the world’s most technologically advanced mines.” Caterpillar Resource Industries Group President Denise Johnson added “We are pleased to work with Rio Tinto to […]

Rio Tinto and ARENA to study using hydrogen to reduce carbon emissions in alumina refining

Rio Tinto has partnered with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to study whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in alumina refineries to reduce emissions. Rio Tinto will conduct a $1.2 million feasibility study, equally funded with ARENA through a $580,000 grant, into using clean hydrogen to replace natural gas in the calcination process of refining at the Yarwun aumina refinery in Gladstone. The study program includes work to be done at Rio Tinto’s Bundoora Technical Development Centre in Melbourne, where Rio Tinto’s in-house development capability has now been extended to hydrogen. ARENA CEO Darren Miller said “If we can replace fossil fuels with clean hydrogen in the refining process for alumina, this will reduce emissions in the energy and emissions intensive refining stage of the aluminium supply chain. Exploring these new clean energy technologies and methods is a crucial step towards producing green aluminium. “This study will investigate a potential technology that can contribute to the decarbonisation of the Australian alumina industry. If successful, the technical and commercial lessons from Rio Tinto’s study could lead to the implementation of hydrogen calcination technology, not only in Australia, but also internationally.” Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations acting managing director Daniel van der Westhuizen said “We see the ARENA and Rio Tinto-funded study as a step towards reducing refinery emissions and one that has the potential to play an important part in Rio Tinto’s commitment to decarbonisation. “We’re investing in work that needs to be done, not only to decarbonise one of our sites, but also to help provide a lower-emissions pathway for Rio Tinto and the global aluminium industry. “We recognise we are on a long road towards reducing emissions across our operations and there is clearly more work to be done. But projects such as this are an important part […]

Rio Tinto connects the Pilbara to Asia with new direct freight shipping service

Rio Tinto has secured a new commercial freight shipping service connecting Western Australia’s Pilbara region to the major international shipping hub of Singapore. The service will provide the company with a quicker, cheaper and cleaner alternative to the existing freight delivery route via Perth, helping to drive regional economic development and local job creation. The regular freight service commenced with the arrival of the MCP Graz at the Port of Dampier from Singapore. The vessel delivered essential maintenance supplies for Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s operations in the Pilbara, including rail wagon wheels, wagon parts, oil and lubricants. Future shipments are expected to include tyres for heavy earth moving equipment, conveyor belts, rail wagon and locomotive parts and mining consumables. The service is also open for use by local businesses in the north-west of Australia, providing companies operating in the region with better access to international markets and more efficient movement of freight. Rio Tinto Iron Ore managing director of Port, Rail and Core Services, Richard Cohen, said, “This is an important new service that connects the Pilbara to the rest of the world via the major international shipping hub of Singapore. It will provide a number of benefits by delivering cheaper, cleaner and faster freight to the region. “It is an important breakthrough not only for our business, but it will also provide a great opportunity for the local Pilbara economy by helping to unlock small business growth and supporting job creation.” Rio Tinto expects the service to reduce the lead-time for goods in to the Pilbara by six to 10 days compared with freight via Fremantle. Additionally, it’s expected to provide an annual saving of around three million litres of diesel fuel by reducing road train travel from Perth by more than 3.8 million kilometres. Over time, Rio Tinto […]

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Coal is passé in much of China

Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export coal in the long term. China unofficially banned Australian coal in mid-2020. Some 70 ships carrying Australian coal have reportedly been unable to unload in China since October. This is obviously bad news for Australia’s coal exporters. But even if the ban is lifted, there’s no guarantee China will start buying Australian coal again – at least not in huge volumes. China is changing. It’s announced a firm date to reach net-zero emissions, and governments in eastern provinces don’t want polluting coal plants taking up prime real estate. It’s time Australia faced reality, and reconsidered its coal export future. First, the coal ban In May last year, China’s government effectively banned the import of Australian coal, by applying stringent import quotas. As of last month coal exports to China from Newcastle, Australia’s busiest coal exporting port, had ceased. In 2019, Australia exported A$13.7 billion worth of coal to China. This comprised A$9.7 billion in metallurgical coal for steel making and A$4 billion in thermal coal for electricity generation. The latest official Australian data shows these export levels fell dramatically between November 2019 and November 2020. Comparing the two months, metallurgical and thermal coal exports to China were down 85% and 83% respectively. Several Chinese provinces experienced power blackouts in late 2020. China’s state-backed media said the shortages were unrelated to the ban on Australian coal. Instead, they blamed cold weather and the recovery in industrial activity after the pandemic. We dispute this claim. While Australian coal accounts for only about 2% of coal consumption in China, it helps maintain reliable supply for many power stations in China’s southeast coastal provinces. Coal mining in China mostly occurs in the western […]

Local research collaboration cuts wear and tear on mineral processing equipment

In a new $2.4 million research partnership between the University of South Australia, LaserBond, and the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), experts are set to develop some of the world’s most resilient minerals processing equipment. LaserBond, a pioneering Australian surface engineering company and the University of South Australia’s specialist Coatings Research Group at the Future Industries Institute, continue their fruitful collaboration on a new challenge. Minerals processing machinery, often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, endures some of the harshest possible conditions – erosion, corrosion and wear and tear induced by repetitive impact. A key competitive advantage for the industry and for manufacturers would be to increase the longevity of mineral processing equipment through composite coatings (called cladding). The improved cladding needs to match facility maintenance shutdown schedules. By matching the machinery life to service schedules, unforeseen shutdowns can be avoided or minimised. Shutdowns for repairs and maintenance of the equipment can cost more than $100,000 for every hour of downtime. UniSA lead researcher Professor Peter Murphy, says he welcomes the chance to grow the advanced manufacturing sector within Australia. “This comes at a time where we need to nurture our manufacturing capability and this project has the capacity to grow, employ and lead Australia through the challenging economic times,” Prof Murphy says. Key researcher on the project, UniSA’s Industry Associate Professor Colin Hall says industry experts in surface engineering, such as LaserBond, have long recognised the challenge and have specialised in the development of hard, wear-resistant coatings using laser cladding. “What we hope to do through this partnership is work with LaserBond to refine the technology, specifically focussing on key areas within mineral processing machinery prone to wear in different circumstances, to provide tailor-made coatings that resist that degradation,” Assoc […]

Corporate dysfunction on Indigenous affairs: Why heads rolled at Rio Tinto

Outraged investors have forced the board of Rio Tinto to sack its chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques along with two of the senior executives partially responsible for the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which contained evidence of human habitation 46,000 years ago. Why did the company commit this egregious act? There are several layers to the answer. First, Rio Tinto’s iron ore division was under extreme production pressure. The iron ore in the vicinity of the caves was very high grade and the company needed as much of it as possible to mix with other grades so as to supply the market with its trademark Pilbara blend. Its reputation as a reliable supplier depended on it. Rio Tinto was siloed It was authorised under West Australian law to mine the area, even though this would destroy the caves, and it intended to exercise this legal right, regardless of any opposition. Second, Rio has a segmented organisational structure. It’s product divisions – iron ore, aluminium, copper and diamonds, minerals and energy – operate as autonomous business units with relatively little control from the corporate centre. When things go well, such an organisational structure is highly profitable for the corporation as a whole, because it leaves each product division free to take advantage of whatever opportunities there are in its particular market. But there is a downside. It leaves the corporation vulnerable to poor decision making by any one of its product divisions, decisions that may have disastrous human and environmental consequences that threaten the social license of the whole corporation. That is what has happened in the Juukan Gorge case. Organisational weakness Of course, Rio was aware of this downside of its organisational structure and had taken steps to deal with it. It had various functional lines – chains of command […]

Rio Tinto Executive Committee changes

Following the publication on 24 August 2020 of the Board Review of Cultural Heritage Management (the Board Review), undertaken in response to the destruction of the Juukan rockshelters in May 2020, the Board of Rio Tinto has engaged extensively with shareholders, Traditional Owners, Indigenous leaders and other stakeholders. While there is general recognition of the transparency of the Board Review and support for the changes recommended, significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified. By mutual agreement, J-S Jacques will step down from his role as an executive director and Chief Executive of the Group. A process to identify his successor is underway. J-S will remain in his role until the appointment of his successor or 31 March 2021, whichever is earlier. This will ensure business continuity to maintain the strong performance of the Group’s global operations during Covid-19. Chris Salisbury will step down as Chief Executive, Iron Ore with immediate effect and will leave Rio Tinto on 31 December 2020. Ivan Vella, currently Managing Director for Rail, Port & Core Services within Rio Tinto Iron Ore, will replace him on an interim basis, following a handover period with Chris. Simone Niven will step down as Group Executive, Corporate Relations, and will leave the Group on 31 December 2020 after completing an orderly transition of her responsibilities. As previously announced, Rio Tinto is establishing a new Social Performance assurance function, reporting to Mark Davies, Group Executive, HSE, Technical and Projects, to strengthen oversight of communities and heritage practices and performance within the operations. In order to enhance Board engagement in Australia, Simon McKeon, non-executive director, is appointed Senior Independent Director, Rio Tinto Limited with immediate effect. This newly created Board role will complement the existing Senior Independent Director role, which will continue to be performed […]

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