Mining giant Rio Tinto will partner with China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to demonstrate battery-swapping electric trucks at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.
The technology is already being used in mining trucks in China, and this partnership will enable Rio Tinto to demonstrate a complete battery electric truck and charging ecosystem.
The two-year project will feature 8 mining trucks (91 tons), 13 batteries (800 kWh), and a robot charging station. Rio Tinto technical experts and Oyu Tolgoi worked closely with SPIC and truck manufacturer Tonly to match the design of the equipment to Rio Tinto's requirements. Trucks will perform non-productive tasks in surface operations—specifically, tailings pond rehabilitation and surface soil movement.
Rio Tinto operates around 700 haulage trucks across its global operations, of which 100 are classified as light or medium class (payload of 100-200 tonnes).
Each battery is expected to last 8 hours, depending on the task performed, and the battery replacement process takes 7 minutes.
The first truck is scheduled to arrive in Oyu Tolgoi this year and the remaining 7 trucks, along with the battery replacement and charging infrastructure, will be operational by mid-2025.
Rio Tinto's Chief Decarbonisation Officer Jonathon McCarthy said: “This demonstration will allow us to test the applications of battery swapping technology which delivers more flexibility and less downtime than current static charging technology. The project will complement the pilots of advanced electric trucks planned for the Pilbara. [in Australia].”
Source: Rio Tinto