The mining companies will trial Komatsu’s pre-production vehicles and have been given an option to be first buyers of the solutions once commercially viable.

The collaboration will form part of the Komatsu Greenhouse Gas (GHG) alliance which was announced this week.

The alliance’s founding members include Rio Tinto, BHP, Codelco and Boliden, who will collaborate with Komatsu on the planning, development, testing and commissioning of zero-emission mining equipment.

According to Komatsu, the alliance will advance its power agnostic truck concept for haulage vehicles which can run on different power sources including diesel electric, electric, wired, battery power and hydrogen fuel cells.

“Rio Tinto and Komatsu have a shared history of partnership on innovation going back to when we built the world’s largest Komatsu autonomous haulage fleet in 2008,” Rio Tinto chief commercial officer Alf Barrios said.

“Our support of a trial, and the option to buy some of the first trucks from Komatsu, underscores our shared commitment to actively collaborate on product planning, development, testing and deployment of the next generation of zero-emission mining equipment and infrastructure as we look to decarbonise our business.”

BHP stated it will provide engineering and technical resources to Komatsu through the development stage, with further collaboration through BHP’S FutureFit Academy to increase the skills of its workforce to operate the trialled equipment.

“Tackling climate change requires strong collaboration and collective effort across the supply chain,” BHP’s chief commercial officer Vandita Pant said.

“Reducing vehicle emissions is key to our climate strategy, and we are thrilled to join with Komatsu and our peers in the global mining sector on real, tangible action to help accelerate our transition to a low-carbon future.

“Extending the FutureFit Academy partnership to equip our workforce to operate zero-emissions technology is an exciting addition to our collaboration with Komatsu.”

Komatsu stated it will be aiming to expand the alliance to other mining companies

“We are honoured that our customers, several of the largest mining companies in the world, have agreed to participate in the Komatsu GHG Alliance and work in partnership with us to develop sustainable solutions for mining,” Komatsu mining business division president Masayuki Moriyama said.

“We look forward to close collaboration with these industry leaders to accelerate development and deployment of the next level of equipment designed to reduce greenhouse gases from mining operations, and ultimately achieve the goal of zero-emission mining.”