FUELS & OILS as used cooking oil and animal fat waste, the use of Neste MY Renewable Diesel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75 % over the life cycle of the fuel compared to fossil diesel. Results from the trial showed that a truck running on renewable diesel delivered similar performance and reliability as trucks running on conventional diesel.
Based on these positive results, Rio Tinto US Borax continued to work with Rolls- Royce, Neste, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of California to fully transition its heavy machinery fleet onsite to renewable diesel at the end of May 2023. This transition includes all the heavy machinery on the property from haul trucks to loaders, and the renewable diesel is even used in blasting.
Rio Tinto has also completed the transition from conventional to renewable diesel for all heavy mining equipment at its Kennecott copper mine in Utah, giving the mine one of the lowest carbon footprints of any copper producer in the United States. Kennecott’ s fleet of 97 haul trucks( including 84 Komatsu 930-SE haul trucks powered with Cummins QSK78 engines) and heavy machinery equipment at the mine, concentrator, smelter, refinery and tailings are now all fuelled by renewable diesel sourced in the United States. This is expected to reduce the mine’ s Scope 1 emissions by 450,000 tonnes, equal to eliminating the annual emissions of 107,000 cars. In addition, the switch to renewable diesel reduces PM2.5( particulate matter less than 2.5 microns) emissions at the tailpipes of our haul truck fleet by 40 %, a reduction equivalent to approximately 2.3 billion miles of light vehicle travel annually.
Kennecott has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any copper producer in the United States, thanks to recent initiatives such as the closure of a coalfired power plant, installation of a 5 MW solar farm, deployment of battery electric vehicles underground, and the transition to renewable diesel. The operation’ s overall carbon footprint has now been reduced by more than 80 % from 2018 levels.
Kennecott’ s transition to renewable fuel will also make low-carbon fuel more accessible in the state of Utah. In partnership with Kennecott, HF Sinclair is dedicating two tanks to renewable diesel for the mine with each having tank capacity of 18,000 barrels or 756,000 gallons. HF Sinclair Executive Vice President, Commercial, Steven Ledbetter said:“ We’ re proud to support Rio Tinto’ s sustainability journey with a low-carbon fuel produced at our facilities. We’ re excited to see Kennecott move from trial to full implementation and what this could mean for other industries with evolving energy needs.”
In 2023, Kennecott had conducted an initial trial of renewable diesel, which compared two Komatsu 930-SE trucks with Cummins QSK78 using regular diesel against two using renewable diesel. Officials measured the trucks’ acceleration, cycle time, fuel usage, and engine inspection reports. The renewable diesel was trialled successfully, complementing similar test findings from Rio Tinto’ s Boron mine in California. Following the successful trial with Rio Tinto alongside other technical evaluations, Cummins announced approval of unblended renewable diesel for use in all industrial high-horsepower engines.
Combined with Rio Tinto’ s Boron mine- which completed the full transition of its heavy machinery from fossil diesel to renewable diesel in May 2023 – renewable diesel use at Kennecott replaces 11 % of Rio Tinto’ s global fossil diesel consumption with renewable diesel.
Neste MY Renewable Diesel has also helped fuel Rio Tinto’ s Pilbara iron ore operations for the first time in 2025, with the completion of a successful trial of biofuel across its network of Western Australian ports, railways and mines. The trial, the first of its kind for Rio Tinto in Australia, was conducted in partnership with leading global renewable diesel producer Neste and Australian fuel supplier Viva Energy. It has provided Rio Tinto with a greater understanding of how renewable diesel could be integrated across its Pilbara operations.
Neste allocated 8,500 t( 10 million litres) of renewable diesel from used cooking oil for the trial. The fuel was shipped from Singapore to Rio Tinto’ s Parker Point fuel terminal in Dampier by Viva Energy and blended portside with fossil diesel to create a mix with about 20 % renewable diesel. It was then distributed across Rio Tinto’ s Pilbara iron ore operations for use in rail, marine, blasting, haul trucks, surface mining equipment and light vehicles.
The four-week trial in January and February 2025 provided an understanding of how renewable diesel use could be scaled up across Rio Tinto’ s Australian operations in the future, giving key insights into the bulk renewable diesel supply chain, importation and blending processes. It also reduced Rio Tinto’ s Scope 1 emissions by about 27,000 tonnes of direct greenhouse gas emissions.
BHP’ s position on biofuels
BHP’ s position on biofuels was most recently outlined in its 2024 Climate Transition Action Plan in which it states:“ We consider biofuels as a backup option if electrification is delayed or unsuccessful, and we continue to monitor developments in this area. Our position on biofuels is informed by a trial in FY2023 that provided us valuable insights into using hydrogenated vegetable oil in multiple types of mining equipment. The trial also helped us understand the biofuels value chain and the importance of standards and quality assurance to mitigate potential concerns with these fuels( eg competition with food production, water use, land use, and transparency of feedstocks). While our plan for displacing diesel used in most of our mining equipment / vehicles is clear, our potential pathway to decarbonise hardto-electrify mining equipment / vehicles( eg drill rigs, dozers, tugboats) and other ancillary equipment is less clear. Biofuels are a technically viable option, but remain relatively expensive and subject to the potential environmental and ethical concerns we noted from our trial. We will continue to look for opportunities to collaborate to support further innovation for hard-toelectrify equipment.”
The 2023 trial saw BHP trialling the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil( HVO) to help power mining equipment at its Yandi iron ore operations in Western Australia. Supplied through a collaboration with bp, the renewable diesel made from HVO was used in haul trucks and other mining equipment over an initial three-month trial period.
BHP Western Australia Iron Ore( WAIO) Asset President, Brandon Craig, said at the time:“ About 40 % of BHP’ s operational greenhouse gas emissions come from using diesel fuel, and this is a core focus of our decarbonisation strategy. Ultimately, our aim
International Mining | JULY 2025