Rio Tinto and Komatsu are collaborating to accelerate the development and deployment of zero-emission mining haulage technologies, such as haul trucks.
Rio Tinto will perform a pre-production trial of the new equipment at a Rio Tinto location and has the option of purchasing some of the first Komatsu trucks once they are commercially viable.
“Rio Tinto and Komatsu have a shared history of partnership on innovation going back to when we built the world’s largest Komatsu autonomous haulage fleet in 2008. Our support of a trial, and the option to buy some of the first trucks from Komatsu, underscores our shared commitment to actively collaborate on product planning, development, testing and deployment of the next generation of zero-emission mining equipment and infrastructure as we look to decarbonise our business.”
Alf Barrios, Rio Tinto’s Chief Commercial Officer.
Rio Tinto is also one of the first firms to join Komatsu’s newly formed Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Alliance, whose first goal is to advance Komatsu’s power agnostic truck concept for a haulage vehicle that can run on a range of power sources, including battery and hydrogen.
“Rio Tinto and Komatsu both recognize the critical role zero-emission haul trucks play in meeting the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction goals for the mining industry and the need to focus on developing practical haulage solutions. We are looking forward to advanced collaboration with them.”
Komatsu President, Mining Business Division, Max Moriyama.
Rio Tinto is also a founding supporter of the Charge On Innovation Challenge, which aims to solve the power distribution infrastructure required to support zero-emission haul trucks.
