Codelco and BHP Sign Unprecedented Innovation Agreement to Develop Sustainable Mining

Two of the world’s largest mining companies are joining forces with the aim of exchanging information in areas of mutual interest, such as the electrification of mining operations, the supply of desalinated water, the stability and monitoring of tailing ponds and the development of technologies, including for decarbonizing processes.

For the first time in their history, BHP and Chilean state-owned company Codelco signed a collaboration agreement that will focus on both companies’ accumulated experience in innovation projects aimed at strengthening the sustainability of their operations.

“Our copper is part of the solution to climate change that threatens the planet and must be produced in a sustainable way, in line with that goal. To envision these new ways of mining, innovation is one of the main pillars of our management, a focus that we can only develop in collaboration with players equally active in this quest, as is the case with BHP,” says Andre Sougarret , CEO of Codelco.

Open innovation is one of the factors enabling Codelco’s current business strategy, which places a high value on the ability to bring together 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.

“The alliance with Codelco reflects our efforts to work together to find solutions to one of the world’s most pressing challenges: halting climate change. We cannot only make progress on decarbonisation or contribute to the energy transition. For BHP, agreements like this show how vital public-private partnerships are to making mining an increasingly sustainable industry,” said Rag Udd, president of BHP Americas.

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

The document signed by Codelco and BHP states that the knowledge exchange will run for five years and will be supervised by a steering committee and carried out by working groups with professionals from both companies.