Anglo American has achieved several tech milestones across its steelmaking coal business.
For more than 100 years, Anglo American has worked to fulfil its purpose: re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.
Coinciding with this purpose is Anglo’s ‘FutureSmart Mining’ agenda, which is the company’s innovation-led approach to sustainable mining.
Anglo believes this approach is integral to building a mining industry with minimal physical footprint, and one that goes beyond carbon neutral and works in partnership to achieve a greater goal.
“These are the step-change innovations that will transform the nature of mining – how we source, mine, process, move and market our products – and how our stakeholders experience our business,” Anglo said. “It is about transforming our physical and societal footprint.
“We envisage a much-reduced environmental footprint from new ways of mining, by using a number of precision mining technologies and data analytics.”
Anglo implements a collaborative approach to regional economic development, while its global stretch goals, aimed at delivering improvements to areas such as health and education, drive the company’s ambition to create truly sustainable and thriving communities.
“In order to live up to our purpose, we are changing the way we operate through smart innovation that connects technology, digitalisation and a holistic approach to sustainability,” Anglo said.
A clear illustration of this is the decade-long vision Anglo has had for its steelmaking coal mines in the Bowen Basin of Queensland.
Mine of the future
After using the last 10 years to improve safety and efficiency in its underground coal mining operations, Anglo’s ‘mine of the future’ vision became a reality earlier this year.
In March, all of Anglo’s underground coal mines in Queensland began operating simultaneously from remote operation centres (ROCs).
Not content to rest on its laurels, March also saw Anglo notch another milestone: 10,000 longwall mining shears from said ROCs.
“At Anglo American, we have re-imagined where our people can remotely manage operations from a safe distance, using real-time data to make informed decisions,” Anglo American Australia automation superintendent Matthew Wakeford said.
“Since transitioning to remote operations, we have reduced exposure risk to hazardous areas by 22,500 hours across our Bowen Basin mine sites.”
Only one known mine globally had achieved sustainable remote operations before Anglo’s Australian operations did: the San Juan coal mine in the US, owned by Westmoreland.
Anglo attributed the rapid pace of technological innovation – especially in areas like data analytics, automation and digitalisation – to unlocking opportunities for the next-generation of mining in Australia.
Anglo head of operations Matt Cooper said more than 1000 systems initiatives had enabled remote operation success during the company’s decade-long journey.
“Each advancement towards our vision introduced new obstacles, requiring the development of further technology capable of meeting unique demands,” Cooper said.
“But if we are to unlock the full potential of these advancements, we must consistently integrate the seasoned expertise of our workforce – those who have deeply understood and mastered the complexities of coal mining through decades of experience.”
Cooper said Anglo would be equipping their people to grow with the industry as they were “irreplaceable”.
“By developing state-of-the-art technologies and prioritising the wellbeing of our workforce through a collaborative approach, our steelmaking coal mines in Australia have emerged as leaders in the industry, reshaping the future of underground coal mining on a global scale,” Cooper said.
Anglo has also utilised industry-leading personal proximity detection systems to keep workers safe underground, and trialled remote-controlled stockpile dozers.
The dozers, designed to improve operator safety, were trialled at the Capcoal complex near Middlemount to reduce exposure to concealed stockpile voids.
“Upskilling our workers in this new technology is paramount to its success because their expertise is irreplaceable, even when the work is done remotely,” Anglo Capcoal general manager George Karooz said in June 2024.
The operation is expected to reduce in-cab dozer exposure time by 45,000 to 75,000 hours per year once the technology is fully deployed across all sites.
“Operating our fleet of dozers from a safe distance will reduce the number of hours in the cab and fully remove our operators from the dozer seat in what is another significant advancement in autonomous mining,” Wakeford said.
Anglo’s plan is to ramp up and retrofit its entire fleet, totalling 13 dozers across the company’s Capcoal and Moranbah operations.
A new owner
These autonomous advancements come as Anglo shifts its focus towards its copper operations in South America and its iron ore assets in South Africa and Brazil.
The Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine being developed in the north-east of England will also be a mainstay for the company.
To maintain this focus, Anglo has announced the divestitures of its steelmaking coal, nickel and platinum businesses.
Anglo will sell its five Queensland coal mines – Aquila, Capcoal, Dawson, Grosvenor and Moranbah North – to Peabody Energy for up to $US3.775 billion.
The deal, along with the finalised sale of Anglo’s 33.3 per cent stake in Jellinbah Group to Zashvin for approximately $US1.1 billion, is expected to generate $US4.9 billion for Anglo.
The acquisition will allow Peabody to capture substantial synergies between its existing Australian coal assets and the soon-to-be acquired mines.
It will also transform Peabody into a leading coal producer with Tier 1 mines situated within the world’s strongest steel markets.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.
In early June, Anglo American finalised the demerger of approximately 51 per cent of its interest in Valterra Platinum, formerly known as Anglo American Platinum, which Anglo chief executive officer Duncan Wanblad said would enhance the company’s focus on its “world-class” positions in copper, iron ore and crop nutrients.
MMG Singapore Resources will become the new owner of Anglo’s nickel business, comprising two ferronickel operations – Barro Alto and Codemin – and two greenfield growth operations – Jacaré and Morro Sem Boné – in Brazil, via a $US500 million deal.
Anglo has also planned an exit from its 85 per cent stake in diamond arm De Beers. The company cited tough market conditions as the reason behind the divestment and said it will exit De Beers at the right time.
While Anglo will soon no longer have a presence in the Bowen Basin of Queensland via its coal mines, its legacy in the region will live on, with its technological milestones blazing a new trail for what’s possible in autonomous mining.
By pioneering new technologies, Anglo is redefining what mining is and can be for the next generation of industry and community.
And there is no doubt Anglo will continue this mission as it homes in on its copper, iron ore and crop nutrients operations.
This article appeared in the Winter edition of Mining Magazine.
