Anglo American plc (“Anglo American”) today unveils a prototype of the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck designed to operate in everyday mining conditions at its Mogalakwena PGMs mine in Limpopo, South Africa.

The 2MW hydrogen-battery hybrid truck, generating more power than its diesel predecessor and capable of carrying a 290-tonne payload, is part of Anglo American’s nuGen™ Zero Emission Haulage Solution (ZEHS). nuGen™ provides an end-to-end integrated green hydrogen production, fuelling and haulage system, with green hydrogen to be produced at the mine site.

nuGen™ is part of Anglo American’s innovation-led approach to sustainable mining – FutureSmart Mining™ – which brings together technology and digitalisation to drive targeted sustainability outcomes, including our commitment to carbon-neutrality across our operations by 2040.

Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “nuGen™ is a tangible demonstration of our FutureSmart Mining™ programme changing the future of our industry. With diesel emissions from our haul truck fleet accounting for c.10-15% of our total Scope 1 emissions, this is a vital step on our pathway to carbon neutral operations by 2040. The mining industry is playing a considerable role in helping the world decarbonise, both through our own emissions footprint and the metals and minerals that we produce that are critical to low carbon energy and transport systems.

“Over the next several years, we envisage hundreds of our diesel-powered trucks being converted or replaced with this zero-emission haulage system, fuelled with green hydrogen. If this pilot is successful, we could remove up to 80% of diesel emissions at our open pit mines by rolling this technology across our global fleet.” 

Tony O’Neill, Technical Director of Anglo American, commented: “We are incredibly proud of what our entire team, working with expert partners, has achieved in under three years. This is truly a world-class innovation and bears testament to our technical vision and determination to deliver a cleaner and smarter future for mining.

“It is these game-changing innovations that are exactly why we began our FutureSmart Mining™ journey in 2014, knowing how much of a difference we can make, including in the energy transition and across our societal footprint. Innovative, clean and independent power systems, such as our nuGen™ ZEHS project, offer a significant part of the emissions solution.”