PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner BHP will join fellow major Rio Tinto to become a founding member of manufacturing company Komatsu’s GHG Alliance, which aims to develop commercially viable zero-greenhouse gas emissions haul trucks.

BHP said on Tuesday that as a founding partner of the alliance, the company would operate one of the first batches of zero-emission trucks upon commercial release.

BHP will provide engineering and technical resources to Komatsu to support the development phase as required. These activities will provide BHP with real-time access to technology in development, with Komatsu drawing upon BHP’s mining expertise to accelerate its path to market.

Additionally, BHP and Komatsu will collaborate through the BHP FutureFit Academy to develop the future facing skills in its teams to operate and maintain this pioneering equipment.

“Tackling climate change requires strong collaboration and collective effort across the supply chain. Reducing vehicle emissions is key to our climate strategy, and we are thrilled to join with Komatsu and our peers in the global mining sector on real, tangible action to help accelerate our transition to a low carbon future,” BHP chief commercial officer Vandita Pant said.

“Extending the FutureFit Academy partnership to equip our workforce to operate zero-emissions technology is an exciting addition to our collaboration with Komatsu.”

The alliance framework will support BHP’s broader Zero Emissions Material Movement programme, which also includes founding patron membership of the global Charge on Innovation challenge, announced in May, which is seeking solutions from technology innovators for large-scale haul truck electrification and charging systems.

Mining Weekly previously reported that Rio Tinto would also be joining the Komatsu alliance, and would conduct pre-production trials of the new equipment at one of its sites with the option to buy some of the first trucks from Komatsu once they are commercially viable.