An initiative between the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) and 18 original equipment manufacturers of mining equipment that aims to produce a zero carbon truck fleet by 2040 has made significant progress toward understanding what is needed to transform today’s fleet of mining vehicles into tomorrow’s new generation of cleaner, safer vehicles, members of Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles (ICSV) initiative’ CEO Advisory Group announced.

ICMM represent 27 of the world’s largest mining companies. The ICSV has brought those companies together with 18 OEM’s including Caterpillar to find ways to reduce emissions from mining equipment fleets.

The ambitions of the ICSV initiative are to introduce greenhouse gas emission-free surface mining vehicles by 2040, minimize the operational impact of diesel exhaust by 2025 and make vehicle collision avoidance technology available to mining companies by 2025. In the first two years of the initiative, eight new OEMs have joined the initiative taking the number of participating OEMs to 19. ICMM members, representing approximately 30 percent of the global metals market with more than 650 assets, have undertaken assessments to establish a clearer view of the progress made at site level toward each ambition. These assessments indicate that ICMM members are generally at early stages of maturity in the journey, and show what progress will look like for each ambition.

This significant representation of industry can speak with an aligned voice, on aligned objectives with OEMs and third-party technology providers. In its first two years, the ICSV initiative has achieved the critical step of sending strong signals to OEMs and third-party technology providers on their requirements and on what is needed to accelerate development and adoption of technology across the industry.
“It’s proved a great vehicle for tackling climate change. Investors have been putting a lot of pressure on our members to accelerate (cuts) wherever they can,” ICMM CEO Tom Bulter told Reuters.
Mining truck fleets are typically diesel powered and represent about a third of miners’ greenhouse gas emissions.

Across its members, emissions from large vehicles were responsible for 68 Mt (75 million st) of carbon dioxide, Butler said.

Next year, they will look at integrating the initiative into corporate planning processes, allocating resources, and collaboration among members, Butler said.

“2040 is the aspiration and that date was set through consultation with experts within the membership. We wanted to set something that is realistic ... I’m optimistic that we should be able to get there a little bit earlier.”

“There is a critical need to advance work on cleaner, safer vehicles in mining, which will have important health and safety benefits and contribute towards the pressing need of decarbonizing the mining industry,” said Nick Holland, CEO of Goldfields and chair CEO Advisory Group. “It is recognized that there are measures we can implement now, but other, more impactful, interventions are reliant on technology pathways that are still evolving. This will undoubtedly take time, but the industry’s collaboration with OEMs, through the ICMM, is critical as we look for these long-term, sustainable and integrated solutions.”

Denise Johnson, Group President, Caterpillar, said, “Caterpillar is committed to helping customers operate safely and sustainably, and the Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles initiative is helping us to collaborate even more closely with the mining industry in these important areas. Its progress to date has helped to form a shared understanding of where the industry is on its journey and demonstrates that by working together we can more quickly accelerate the pace of change.”