THE LEADER VOLUME 15 • NUMBER 11 / 12
Smart sustainability
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In its recently released Sustainability Performance 2019 presentation , Anglo American underlined the importance of technology in helping it achieve its goals .
Tony O ’ Neill , Anglo ’ s Technical Director , talked through how technology is enabling step change sustainability performance within the global mining group , centred on its FutureSmart Mining™ platform – which has been acting as “ a catalyst for permanent positive change ”.
These initiatives are integral to the company achieving its goal of reaching carbon neutrality across its operations by 2040 .
Yet , the company is already leveraging new technology to improve its environmental footprint and sustainability credentials .
The first order of technology business in the presentation was the 291 t FCEV haul truck , a conversion to hydrogen fuel cell and lithium battery operation of a Komatsu 930E , which will see first motion in H1 2021 at the Mogalakwena platinum mine in South Africa , followed by intensive testing .
For the first time , Anglo gave more detail on the expected upside and longer-term plans for this project .
O ’ Neill said the total-cost-to-operate will be comparable with diesel today but would achieve direct parity by 2030 . The FCEV trucks will allow for 50-70 % reduction in emissions ( Scope 1 and 2 for open-pit mines ) and Anglo says it has “ seven sites in planning for rollout completion by 2030 ”. At Mogalakwena , a full 40 truck rollout is planned to start in 2024 .
The trucks themselves will use 4 oz of platinum in their fuel cells , with each using eight Ballard FCveloCity ® -HD 100 kW modules .
The Williams Advanced Engineering high-power modular lithium-ion battery system for the truck was built in Grove , Oxfordshire , and shipped to First Mode in Seattle , which is integrating it with Ballard Power Systems fuel cells before the completed power unit will be shipped to South Africa for integration into the truck .
At Mogalakwena , a Nel 3.5 MW electrolyser plant is under construction and will be capable of producing up to 1,000 kg / d of hydrogen . Most of the electricity for the hydrogen production will come from a nearby 320 MW solar array . The electrolyser capacity surpasses the daily demand of the truck , enabling storage for fuelling during the night or moments when solar radiation is poor , maximising the renewable share of the hydrogen .
On this topic , Mark Cutifani , CEO of Anglo American , said the use of green hydrogen haulage could displace 650,000 t / y of CO 2 emissions – the equivalent of removing 150,000 cars from the road .
More detail was also given on the company ’ s bulk ore sorting technology and projects , the design of which is a combination of grizzly , feeder , sizer , conveyors , diverter , stackers and associated equipment from MMD . This is used in conjunction with an ore scanning system , such as the GEOSCAN-M unit from Scantech , which is a highperformance elemental analyser utilising Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis to measure the elemental composition continuously in real time .
Anglo says bulk ore sorting has achieved grade uplifts of 7-20 % based on plants with a capital cost of $ 10- $ 70 million ( volume dependent ). It has completed 12 months of full-scale testing at the El
Soldado copper mine , in Chile , for a 9 % average grade uplift .
Looking at other sites , at Barro Alto , initial installation took place in October 2019 , with testing completed in August 2020 . This plant had a $ 40 million capital cost for 100 % throughput with a phased upgrade through 2022 .
At Mogalakwena platinum mine , initial installation was in June 2019 . Testing is in progress , for estimated completion in November . This had a $ 30 million capital cost for up to 100 % of throughput due by end-2021 .
Los Bronces copper mine , in Chile , will receive an initial installation , post crusher , by the end of this year with a $ 10 million capital cost for up to circa- 60 % of throughput . Phase 2 will cost $ 70 million for 100 % of throughput by mid-2023 .
Aside from the hydrogen trucks and bulk ore sorting , other projects were mentioned in passing .
The company is looking to more widely apply the use of hydraulic dry stack ( HDS ) engineered tailings that dry out in weeks , are geotechnically stable and can be repurposed and terraformed with up to 85 % water recovery . Dry stacking is being first used at El Soldado where a unit is under construction and set for completion in the September quarter of 2021 .
On this topic , O ’ Neill said : “ We are evaluating engineering on a full scale and to demonstrate to regulators what we believe to be the future of the industry .”
On what Anglo calls Coarse Particle Recovery , another term for Coarse Particle Flotation , it says the throughput increase can be 15-20 % with a plant cost of $ 10- $ 50 million , depending on scale , with 20 % energy reduction and up to 85 % water recovery with HDS .
Anglo has opted to use Eriez HydroFloat™ technology for coarse particle recovery with plant start-up at El Soldado set for the March quarter of 2021 ( 80 % of volume ), Mogalakwena North in the September quarter of 2021 ( 100 % of volume ) and further rollouts planned for Los Bronces , Quellaveco ( copper , Peru ), Mogalakwena and Minas-Rio ( iron ore , Brazil ).
O ’ Neill also mentioned a “ deep energy sink ” project the company has been exploring . This is a way of confronting the issues of solar power only being generated during the day , while making use of empty mine space , and has the potential to generate some 800 MW of energy for 18 hours a day .
FutureSmart Mining is not focused only on mine operations .
On project construction , O ’ Neill discussed the potential to apply all the company ’ s learnings into process plant development where new technology could be switched in and out in modules as it became available . While no dates were given for deploying such an approach , he did mention the eventual expansion of Mogalakwena within his outline .
Evidently Anglo ’ s quest to ‘ reimagine mining to improve people ’ s lives ’ involves leveraging the newest technology the industry has to offer .
Paul Moore Editorial Director paul @ im-mining . com
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 | International Mining 3