JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has verified the important environmental protection benefits of opting for mining tyre life-extension solutions rather than purchasing new mining tyres earlier than necessary.

The carbon footprint methodology provides measurable data that mining companies can use when reporting Scope 3 emissions, which are by far the largest share of a mine’s total carbon footprint.

Last year, 70 mining companies across six regions reported a prevented 32 700 t of CO₂ emissions by avoiding the need to manufacture and transport replacement mining tyres earlier than necessary.

The ISO verification is the evolution of a programme that has helped mining operations quantify the environmental value of tyre life extension since 2019.

As mining companies place greater emphasis on understanding emissions across their supply chains, Kal Tire believes reliable measurement will become increasingly important in demonstrating the contribution tyre management strategies can make towards helping mining customers extend tyre life, reduce waste and improve the environmental performance of their tyre operations.

Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group, which is exhibiting at Electra Mining Africa 2026 at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo show grounds, services and supplies more than 230 mine sites across five continents.

The group’s Maple Program includes ultra repair, retreading and ultra tread for mining tyres and SCS Global Services’ validation gives added assurance to the carbon savings calculated from extending tyre life.

“Customers in Zambia are currently making use of the Maple Program,” Kal Tire VP Southern Africa John Martin told Mining Weekly at the Canadian company’s comprehensive exhibition stand.

Zambia’s users receive annual certification of CO₂ tonnage saved through the use of particularly ultra-repair technology, using Kal Tire’s on-site repair facilities.

“We have customers in Ghana as well,” Kal Tire communications director Tracy Cobb added.

Instead of scrapping tyres immediately and purchasing new ones, a second life is being put into tyre casing, which lowers the total cost of tyre ownership.

“Because the cost of the repair is nowhere near the cost of purchasing a new tyre, by the time that repaired tyre does end its life, you have saved a lot of money,” Cobb pointed out.

Part of Kal Tire’s service is to ensure that the tyres the company looks after last as long as they possibly can.

“Service providers like ourselves are not always permitted to sell those very large tyres. It's normally a direct supply from a manufacturer to an end-user, and so for us, it's not about creating revenue by selling tyres. It's creating the value for the customer by making sure that the customer’s operation is more sustainable.

“We very much support this whole United Nations Charter around reuse and we want customers to use fewer tyres and that's part of the sustainability that that we provide to the operations,” said Martin.