The Zhitong Finance App learned that global mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.US) will join forces with another mining giant BHP Billiton Group (BHP.US) to cooperate, and the two sides will officially test large battery-driven trucks for electrified mining in the Pilbara region (Pilbara) of Western Australia (Pilbara) region (Pilbara)).

Rio Tinto said in a statement on Monday local time that Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton's common goal is to achieve a net zero greenhouse gas emissions plan as soon as possible by 2050. They will cooperate with well-known mining machinery manufacturers Caterpillar (Caterpillar) and Komatsu (Komatsu) to conduct independent electrification tests on their battery-powered electric large mining trucks.

According to information, these tests will evaluate the performance and specific usage efficiency of large electric trucks for mineral transportation in the Pilbara environment. They are the first stage of large-scale electric truck transportation tests in the mining business of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region.

According to both parties' statements, the two Cat 793 mineral transport trucks are expected to be tested in the second half of 2024, while the two Komatsu 930 mining trucks will be put into trial starting in 2026.

Simon Trott, CEO of Rio Trott, said in a statement: “As we work to use renewable energy to re-energize the Pilbara region's mining business, this collaboration brings us closer to addressing the common challenge of decarbonizing our high-emission mining operations and meeting our net zero emissions commitment.”

Statistics show that the global mining industry has huge carbon emissions. The mining industry involves not only large amounts of energy consumption, but also processes such as transporting heavy transport machinery with high fuel requirements, which require large amounts of fuel. According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for the full year of 2022, carbon dioxide emissions from energy combustion and the entire industrial process account for 89% of total energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to drastically reduce the scale of carbon emissions to achieve nearly zero emissions as early as 2050, in addition to planning to deploy electrified mining trucks to transport minerals, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the two high-emission mining giants are also building new solar power generation facilities and introducing solar and wind energy projects at various mines around the world to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote the transition from normal business operations to renewable energy. BHP Billiton is also involved in several carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology projects.