PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner BHP has struck a collaboration agreement with Chilean copper major Codelco to exchange information in areas of mutual interest, such as the electrification of mining activities, the supply of desalinated water, the stability and monitoring of tailings deposits, and the development of technologies for the decarbonisation of processes, among others.

The agreement addresses the main current challenges of the mining industry shared by both companies, among them the search for technologies that enable the economic exploitation of low-grade minerals, the operation in deep deposits and with complex metallurgical conditions, the design of tasks that use less or no water in their processes and that generate the least impact on the environment, and the effective exploitation of advanced technologies in terms of mineral exploration. 

The agreement will have a five-year term, and will be guided by a steering committee and implemented by working groups with professionals from the two companies.

“The alliance with Codelco reflects our efforts to work collaboratively in the search for solutions to face one of the most urgent challenges in the world: stopping climate change. We cannot advance in decarbonization or contribute to the energy transition alone. For BHP, agreements such as this show how joint work between the public and private sectors is essential to make mining an increasingly sustainable industry,” BHP president America Rag Udd said.

Codelco CEO Andre Sougarret said on Wednesday that copper was part of the solution to climate change, and must be produced in a sustained matter, consistent with that cause.

“In order to imagine these new ways of doing mining, innovation is one of the main axes of our management, a focus that we can only develop in alliance with players who are equally active in this search, as is the case with BHP,” said Sougarret.

Open innovation is one of the enablers of Codelco's current business strategy, which places significant value on the ability to convene external capabilities around the world. Suppliers, research centers, universities and companies with common challenges, such as BHP, are key players in complementing the knowledge and experience of the state mining company and creating sustainable solutions.