Expected impacts

• Reduce approximately 80,000 equivalent tons of CO2 per year by incorporating emission-free technologies for haul vehicles.
• Optimize engineering equipment to achieve lower operating and maintenance costs.
• Position Codelco as a leader in the technological transformation of underground equipment.
• Establish a new standard of mining operation through the reduction of temperature, noise, and pollution in confined areas to improve the safety and well-being of personnel.
• Develop local skills and regulations.
• Stimulate skills development in local suppliers with the potential to provide services of greater complexity, both in terms of tasks and projects.

Proposed solutions

• Gradually incorporate electrical equipment in Chuquicamata and El Teniente until achieving the total replacement of its fleet by 2030.

• Escalate this operational model in all new underground operations. 

• Work with Supply Management to capture the value of electromobility in a timely manner.
• Share knowledge among companies with experience in electromobility in underground mines to develop and share engineering capabilities.
• Optimize new business models through partnerships with key players for the adoption of modern technologies.

Progress

ELECTRIC FLEET

The largest fleet of electrical mining buses in Chile commenced operation during the second half of 2022. We have 155 buses - more than one hundred of them manufactured nationally. These buses generate zero direct emissions and transport workers to and from Chuquicamata, Andina and El Teniente.

SOUTH AMERICA'S FIRST ELECTRIC LHD 

The South American mining industry's first fully electrical underground LHD loader began its maiden test run in Codelco's El Teniente underground mine. Developed by the company Epiroc, this exceptional piece of equipment can load up to fourteen tons of material, without generating direct greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

PRE-MIX CONCRETE CONVEYOR

In July 2021 at the Chuquicamata Subterránea site, a pilot test commenced for the first electrical equipment for the construction of underground mines. This equipment consists of a pre-mixed concrete conveyor, or "mixer" that consumes zero diesel and reduces energy costs by 80% and maintenance costs by 30%.

ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCKS

An electric model is in operation at more than 2,000 meters above sea level in the El Teniente underground mine. Replacing diesel powered models is expected to reduce operating costs by up to 60% and local emissions by 100%.