Codelco buys into Friedland’s I-Pulse to boost mine efficiencies

 

Codelco acquired a stake in a Robert Friedland venture that uses electricity to shatter rocks as the Chilean copper giant seeks to make its aging mines more efficient.

 

 

State-owned Codelco is investing in I-Pulse Inc., joining other miners such as Rio Tinto Group, Newmont Corp. and Teck Resources Ltd. as investors in the US-based firm with laboratories in France, according to company statements that didn’t disclose terms. The arrangement includes Codelco paying about $50 million, said people briefed on the matter.

 

I-Pulse uses surges of electricity known as pulsed power in applications across industries including mining, manufacturing and water. One of its ventures, I-ROX, uses the technology to shatter rocks at mines to cut energy usage and emissions, attracting investors including BHP Group and a European fund tied to Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

 

By replacing conventional crushing and grinding processes, pulsed power could help Codelco cut costs and clean up its mines, where declining ore quality means more rock has to be dug up to produce the same amount of metal. It’s also expected to raise recoveries, which could help the industry in its battle to grow output and feed new demand for the wiring metal from the energy transition and data-center boom.

 

“We’ve seen how hard mining is,” Friedland, the billionaire founder of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., said in an interview alongside Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco. “We need to team up and really make a great effort to provide the metal that the world needs at a good price because if it gets too expensive, nobody can use it.”

 

The equity investment, which follows a letter of intent to work together in May, is intended to facilitate a rollout of pulsed power applications in Codelco mines over the coming years. The technologies can also be used in tunneling, eliminating the need for chemical explosives, as well as in drilling to harness geothermal energy and exploration, Friedland said.

 

While the state company rarely puts up capital for such deals, Pacheco sees the I-Pulse transaction as part of its partnership strategy to share risks and costs as building and running mines gets pricier and trickier. Codelco has seen its debt levels jump as it juggles major investments at multiple mines in a bid to reverse a long-term decline in production.

 

Pacheco and Friedland have been holding meetings for about 18 months in Europe, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

 

“We truly believe that Codelco, Chile and the world need a new way of mining,” Pacheco said. “And that new way requires innovation and new technologies. 

https://www.mining.com/web/codelco-buys-into-friedlands-i-pulse-to-boost-mine-efficiencies/