SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Australian mining company BHP requested a permit to build a $250 million electric trolley system at its Escondida copper mine from Chile's environmental regulator, the firm said on Wednesday.

The planned project includes the installation of a trolley system to assist the transit of mining trucks in areas with high fuel consumption, according to a company statement.

"This project will allow us to reduce fuel consumption from our extraction trucks, and as a result move towards our net zero greenhouse gas emissions goal in our operations by 2050," said BHP Escondida's chief Alejandro Tapia.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Kylie Madry and Stéphanie Hamel; Editing by David Alire Garcia)