Swedish industrial group Sandvik has announced that it has secured a major order from Canadian mining company Torex Gold Resources to supply a fleet of mining machines for the Media Luna project in Mexico, including 15 battery-electric vehicles. The order, worth SEK 650 million (approximately €57.5 mn or $62.4), comprises 35 mining vehicles, including 16 battery-electric machines. The battery-electric order contains electric wheel loaders and twin-boom jumbos, which are jacking rigs used in mining for tunnelling or drilling blast holes. This is the first order for battery-electric vehicles in Latin America and the third-largest order for a battery-electric mining fleet.
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Torex Gold Resources plans to bring the Media Luna mine into commercial production in early 2025, ramping up to 7,500 tonnes per day by 2027 and creating one of Mexico’s largest underground mines. As part of a wider decarbonization strategy, the company is implementing battery-electric production equipment at Media Luna. Electric mining equipment not only reduces CO2 emissions but also exhaust emissions and heat and noise pollution underground.
“This milestone order demonstrates that both BEVs and conventional ICE mining equipment can not only coexist in today’s mine but deliver value in different circumstances and applications,” says Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. “We continue to see a high interest in our battery-electric offering, and this order also shows how we can help customers transition to more sustainable mining,” added Stefan Widing, CEO and President of Sandvik.
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Sandvik has been on the electric vehicle radar since 2021, when it secured an order from mining companies in Canada. This year alone, the Swedish company has announced a large order from Norway and plans to build a plant in Malaysia focusing on battery-electric machines. The company is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of mining and to helping customers transition to more sustainable mining practices.
