Practical decarbonisation in mining: Can your operations back up your transition plan?

Mining companies are writing climate transition plans to meet AASB S2 and growing investor expectations, but the hardest part isn’t writing the plan, it’s proving it can work.

Stakeholders are increasingly wanting evidence that proposed decarbonisation initiatives have actually been tested, and there is a real plan in place to implement them.

This makes practical transition planning critical, built around three key stages.

Measure. Plan. Report

1. Measure

Know where emissions come from: Build a reliable Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 inventory. Without it, you can't prioritise emissions reductions.

2. Plan

Develop a technically credible decarbonisation strategy: This is where emissions reduction opportunities are assessed, engineering options are evaluated, implementation pathways are costed, and investment decisions are prioritised.

3. Report

Explain how governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics support the transition: The transition plan becomes the evidence behind the disclosure.

Measuring emissions tells you where you are, whilst reporting tells stakeholders where you're going and planning explains how you'll get there. Without a technically robust implementation pathway, transition plans quickly become aspirational rather than actionable. Ultimately, a transition plan should not only demonstrate what an organisation intends to achieve, but how it intends to achieve it.

Why mining is different

Remote operations, high diesel dependency, energy-intensive processing and significant capital investment cycles mean that emissions reductions cannot simply be implemented through policy changes or procurement decisions.

Instead, they require engineering solutions with optimal pathways differing between commodities, mine design, energy supply and site location. An underground gold operation connected to the grid faces very different opportunities from a remote open-pit iron ore mine reliant on diesel generation.

While every operation is unique, most decarbonisation strategies draw from four broad areas:

1. Fleet electrification and haulage optimisation

For most mines, mobile equipment is the biggest emissions source. Options range from operational improvements today, reducing idle time, optimising haul routes and improving payload efficiency, to battery-electric fleets, trolley assist and hybrid haulage as the technology matures.

2. Energy systems and site power

Power generation is another major opportunity, particularly for remote operations. Renewable generation, battery storage, microgrids, electrification of fixed plant and smarter energy management can all reduce emissions. The right solution depends on factors such as grid access, site location, energy demand and operational reliability.

3. Process optimisation

Processing is often one of the most energy-intensive parts of a mining operation. Improvements in comminution, ore sorting, digital optimisation, predictive maintenance and plant design can reduce energy use while improving productivity. In many cases, lower emissions and better operational performance go hand in hand.

4. Supply chain and Scope 3 emissions

For many mining companies, the largest emissions sit outside the mine gate. Better supplier engagement, lower-carbon procurement, logistics optimisation and supplier-specific emissions data can all improve Scope 3 reporting while identifying opportunities to reduce emissions across the value chain.

From engineering studies to credible transition plans

Recent SLR projects include:

• Tier 1 Mining Company – Infrastructure Electrification Study: Assessed trolley assist infrastructure requirements across multiple open-pit mining operations, identifying the operational factors influencing infrastructure requirements for different mining environments.
• Tier 1 South American Iron Ore Producer – Electrification Feasibility: Evaluated multiple fleet electrification scenarios, comparing conventional diesel fleets with battery-electric, hybrid and trolley assist technologies alongside alternative crushing and conveying configurations
• Xeras - Electrification Scenario Model: Developed an integrated financial and operational model enabling rapid assessment of multiple truck technologies, haul profiles, energy demands, infrastructure locations and lifecycle costs across four iron ore operations.
• Tier 1 Mining Company Equipment Electrification Research: Assessed current and future electrification pathways for major mining equipment, including hydraulic excavators, loaders and blast-hole drills, to support long-term emissions reduction planning

These studies all answer the same question: can this transition pathway actually be delivered? That requires engineering analysis, operational modelling and investment planning, not just emissions accounting. That's the evidence boards, investors and assurance providers increasingly expect.