would haul less ore and spend less time on the road than diesel-fuelled alternatives, delivering a productivity hit of between 19 per cent and 33 per cent to Australia’s biggest export industry.
Idoba head of mine automation and technology Craig Rodgers studied the viability of switching to electric mine trucks with batteries that would either need to be recharged, swapped or supported by overhead power cable networks known as “trolley assist”.
Mr Rodgers said the productivity hit from electric trucks would not necessarily mean lower export volumes of Australian commodities. Fortescue is already trialling a battery-powered haul truck in WA, using technology developed by its British subsidiary WAE technologies and Germany’s Liebherr. Swedish miner Boliden has already conducted extensive trolley assist trials and found it increased the speed at which trucks could drive uphill and reduced their diesel consumption.But Mr Rodgers said further study of was required to better understand whether the working lives of batteries would be shortened by the large number of short and intense charging periods that come with the method.
Operational flexibility is an important factor in open-pit mining; the shape of mines is constantly changing as extraction moves into new areas, and the location of ramps and roads changes in lockstep with mine shape.
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