In 2021, Hudbay introduced its GHG reduction roadmap followed by major reduction targets for 2030 and a commitment to achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050. In 2023, our business units set out their own roadmaps for reaching our company-wide goals. Our performance and key steps during the year, notably Constancia’s agreement with renewable energy supplier ENGIE, show Hudbay is making solid progress in GHG reduction.
Our GHG reduction roadmap is an organization-wide objective and a shared commitment across Hudbay. However, given the geographic and climactic diversity of our mines and projects, which encompass the Canadian Shield in northern Manitoba, the southern interior of British Columbia, the arid deserts of Arizona and the Andes of Peru, we need a correspondingly diverse range of approaches and solutions to achieve our GHG reduction goals.
Over the course of 2023, our business units all put together their own GHG reduction roadmaps, which were presented to Hudbay’s Board. Most contained a mix of proven reduction methods and high potential strategies. The roadmaps touched on specific targets and timelines and outlined plans for monitoring performance against their target. In some cases, they also noted possible solutions that, for a variety of reasons, were not appropriate for their operation.
In its roadmap, the Manitoba Business Unit (MBU) identified the Lalor mine as its largest emissions emitter, primarily from propane and diesel usage, and, consequently, as its priority target for emissions reduction. As part of this effort, the MBU assembled funding applications for two projects – installing battery charging stations at Lalor to support increasing the mine’s fleet of battery electric vehicles and converting Lalor’s fresh air ventilation heating system to electric from propane – to submit to the Government of Canada’s Critical Mineral Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) in 2024.
Our South American Business Unit (the SBU) conducted an energy audit of selected projects to guide future GHG reduction initiatives. Among the projects it will pursue in 2024, the team will continue to switch the generators that power Constancia’s pit dewatering wells from diesel to electric. The SBU is also conducting trials of a smart fuel measuring system that is intended to reduce fuel consumption in the haul trucks.
In April 2023, when Hudbay acquired the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia, the mine already had its own plans for GHG reductions, and those are being incorporated, and expanded, as part of the Company’s GHG roadmap. In 2024, Copper Mountain will continue to move forward with planned initiatives, as well as pursuing possible projects and funding opportunities through CMIF.
Copper World represents the first time Hudbay has incorporated GHG analysis into our project feasibility model well before it is operational, and the financial model for the project also calculates the GHG footprint of the project. Going forward, this will become standard in planning for new mines. In 2023, as part of its roadmap, the team studied six GHG reduction initiatives, with four, including building a solar farm and using renewable diesel, being put forward for consideration in the long-term mine plan.