BHP Group Ltd. will use what it called the world's first carbon-neutral conveyor belts at its Spence copper mine in Chile, the company said July 11.

The mining giant partnered with China's Wuxi Boton Technology Co. Ltd. in a pilot project to develop the conveyor belts, with delivery scheduled in August.

Wuxi Boton used carbon offsets to compensate for the emissions linked to the production of the conveyor belts, which were validated by certification company SGS SA.

"The partnership with Wuxi Boton has been invaluable in helping BHP verify the feasibility of using high-quality carbon offsets to emissions in our supply chain and grow the potential demand for supplying 'traced,' 'low carbon' or 'carbon neutral' products among our suppliers," BHP's Group Procurement Officer James Agar said.

In late June, BHP outlined its plan to spend about $4 billion to cut emissions by 2030. In November 2021, the Spence mine received the Copper Mark sustainability certification.

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