How Weir is re-equipping mines for net-zero demands

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As the race for critical minerals accelerates, mining companies are under pressure to extract more from increasingly complex ore bodies while keeping energy use, emissions, and operating costs under control.

Few suppliers sit as close to this challenge as Weir, a global engineering group specialising in equipment and technologies that underpin modern mining. Its ESCO division is a world leader in ground engaging tools, buckets, and wear solutions, and plays a pivotal role in keeping load-and-haul systems efficient, durable, and safe.

Melissa Davison, Regional Managing Director, APAC ESCO Division, shared with us how rising demand for copper, lithium, nickel, and other transition minerals is reshaping customer needs, accelerating innovation, and pushing the industry toward smarter, more sustainable mining – a challenge that Weir is meeting proudly.

The surge in demand for critical minerals like copper, lithium, and nickel has fundamentally changed what mines expect from their equipment. They’re now looking for solutions that are robust, reliable, and increasingly smart and sustainable. Equipment has to handle higher throughputs, process lower-grade ores, and operate efficiently in tough environments. We’ve responded by expanding our portfolio with advanced comminution technologies and several tech-focused acquisitions. Our aim is to help miners move less rock, use less energy, and generate less waste — essentially delivering more with less.

Declining ore grades — copper grades have fallen about 40% since 1991¹ — mean miners are operating in more remote, geologically complex regions with limited infrastructure and higher environmental and political risks. This raises costs, complicates logistics, and puts real strain on operations. We also see preventative maintenance often sacrificed for short-term gains, which creates a disconnect between orebody characteristics and downstream beneficiation. Miners need more flexibility built into their value chain optimisation, and very few companies can bridge that full gap — but we can. That capability is only being strengthened by our acquisitions of Micromine and Fast2Mine.

Processing more rock inevitably drives up energy use, water consumption, and equipment wear, so we’re tackling the issue on several fronts. We’re developing transformational flow sheets that replace traditional mills with more energy-efficient technologies like HPGR and vertical stirred mills. We’re also advancing AI-based ore sorting and characterisation to help mines move less waste and focus resources on ore-rich material. Our published data shows these solutions can cut energy use by up to 40%, CO₂ emissions by 50%, and operating costs by around 20%².

On the load-and-haul side, our Motion Metrics monitoring provides real-time insights on equipment health, wear, and performance, enabling predictive maintenance and reducing unexpected failures. ESCO’s advanced alloys and custom designs maximise wear life, and we’ve put a lot of work into matching bucket capacity to truck loads to improve efficiency and lower CO₂ in the haul cycle. In trials, these innovations have delivered a 20% increase in payload per bucket and a 10% longer lifespan for ground engaging tools³.

Every mine is unique and so are the challenges that particular mine faces. Collaboration and working side-by-side is really the core of our approach - we have a real customer intimacy. We leverage our global network of over 12,000 experts that we have in more than 50 countries. We've got engineers, digital specialists, material scientists, and we then partner with the miners to design and implement those tailored solutions. One that comes to mind recently is CiDRA. We've been collaborating with them on an innovative mineral separation technology that really exemplifies how we co-develop transformative solutions that address the customer's toughest problems.

We're investing in breakthrough technologies that will really redefine mining. We are developing real time ore characterisation solutions using AI and vision sensing - which is really going to enable miners to target and process only ore rich material. We're also advancing digital twin platforms for predictive maintenance and process optimisation. Material usage is a bit focus at Weir, so we've been developing new materials for longer lasting, more sustainable equipment. Our collaboration with CiDRA on the P29 mineral separation technology will unlock novel flow sheet designs and that will really reduce the energy and water usage while boosting recovery rates. So, these types of innovations are going to help miners become smarter, more efficient and more sustainable, and ultimately help accelerate the industry's transition to net zero.

Through innovation and collaboration, we deliver our commitment to sustainability and also technology. We're helping the industry to try and deliver the critical minerals the world needs, but we're trying to do that in an efficient, reliable, and responsible way. The industry is really exciting at the moment with the rate of adoption of technology and the way the industry is trying to clean up where it’s needed. Being involved in facilitating that is incredible – it’s a great time to be in the industry. I'd love to see more young people coming out of university look towards mining because we need problem solvers, and a company like Weir is a great place to come in and really dig your teeth into problem solving.

1. Crux Investor. (n.d.). How copper supply deficits are reshaping the critical minerals landscape. Retrieved from https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/how-copper-supply-deficits-are-reshaping-the-critical-minerals-landscape
Mining.com. (n.d.). Copper industry needs to invest $2.1 trillion over the next 25 years to meet demand. Retrieved from https://www.mining.com/copper-industry-needs-to-invest-2-1-trillion-over-the-next-25-years-to-meet-demand/
Ahead of the Herd. (n.d.). Copper price to remain elevated due to increasing demand for electricity and supply challenges. Retrieved from https://aheadoftheherd.com/copper-price-to-remain-elevated-due-to-increasing-demand-for-electricity-and-supply-challenges-richard-mills/

2. Weir Group. (n.d.). Accelerate sustainable mining. Retrieved from https://www.global.weir/sustainability/accelerate-sustainable-mining/
Weir Group. (n.d.). New study by Weir highlights big energy saving opportunity in mining. Retrieved from https://www.global.weir/newsroom/global-news/new-study-by-weir-highlights-big-energy-saving-opportunity-in-mining/

3. Weir Group. (2022). Making mining smart, efficient & sustainable: Annual report case studies. Retrieved from https://www.global.weir/innovation/2022-annual-report-case-studies/