Integration of Climate Aspects in Underground Mine Planning - Evaluation of the Garpenberg Expansion and Tara Deep

Emissions are currently not accounted for in the mine planning for underground operations and there is no detailed holistic understanding of all scopes of emissions for individual mining operations. The goal of this work was the integration of GHG emissions in underground mine planning and to evaluate the effect of new technologies and climate-related projects. In cooperation with the mining company Boliden a model for the comprehensive estimation of GHG emissions has been constructed in the Deswik environment. A methodology was created to estimate the future GHG emission for each respective source. Three climate measure development scenarios have been applied in the model to expansion plans for Garpenberg to estimate the GHG emissions. An adapted model has been applied to the Tara Deep deposit to compare the mines in terms of climate performance. The integration of the emissions in the model showed that the specific emissions can be lowered from over 6.2 kg CO2e/t rock (2024, Scenario 1) to around 1.3 kg CO2e/t rock (2050, Scenario 3) in Garpenberg. The average specific emissions for mining the Tara Deep ore body will be 6.3 kg CO2e/t rock, due to higher stability requirements and an elevated electricity emission factor in Ireland. Major potentials for emission reductions have been identified in the fields of shotcrete usage, fleet electrification, the choice of explosives and alternative binders. Integrating the previously discussed measures is essential when striving for excellence in climate performance. The focus should be on the electrification of the mucking and hauling process, efficient resource usage, and continuing efforts in the research towards alternative binders. The model quantifies emission reduction potential for future projects and provides the information necessary to make solid long-term investment decisions for climate-related projects.