A new 4800XPC goes to work at the Escondida Norte project in Chile. (Photo: BHP)

The $250 million project includes the construction of a new electrical substation and transmission lines both inside and around the Escondida Norte pit. These facilities will assist the movement of haul trucks electrically where diesel consumption is the greatest, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving productivity associated with truck performance given the higher travel speeds of electrically powered trucks.

“The electric trolley system is one of the initiatives with which we seek to move toward a safer and more sustainable way of operating hand in hand with technology,” said Alejandro Tapia, president, Escondida for BHP. “This project will allow us to reduce the fuel consumption of our extraction trucks and thus advance our goal of net-zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

The trolley project is in addition to other technological transformation initiatives that the company maintains in different stages of study and execution, including the progressive incorporation of autonomy in its mining equipment. To date, Escondida has six autonomous haul trucks in full operation, and by 2025 it expects to have the largest fleet of autonomous equipment in South America. In related news, Escondida announced the start of operations of the first 4800XPC cable-powered shovel in Chile and Latin America and the third in the world, designed and manufactured by Komatsu.

With a weight of approximately 1,750 tons in operation, it is the world’s highest capacity shovel, loading 400-ton mining trucks in just three passes, one less than equipment currently in the market. This increases efficiency during the truck-loading process and generates a significant improvement in costs per ton, as well as increasing the safety and comfort of those who operate it.

“Having the 4800XPC shovel in our equipment fleet is a great contribution to advance in the operational challenges we have in Escondida,” Tapia said. “We are very pleased that the shovel with the highest capacity has arrived at the world’s leading copper producer. I want to congratulate all the teams involved in the safe assembly and delivery of this shovel.”

Among its main features are the incorporation of new technologies that allow greater digging power without decreasing the useful life of the equipment, lower impact loads or improper operation, improved payload and digging performance through the “intelligent” control and application of power and, in addition, less operator fatigue due to the reduction of boom jacking.

This is the first time that a copper mine will use the 4800XPC. Komatsu placed another machine at a platinum mine in South Africa to test its operation in demanding, high hardness and abrasive conditions.