Zijin Mining couldn’t find an ultra-class electric haul truck that could get the job done at its Wulagen mine in Wuqia County, Xinjiang, so they designed their own: a 140-ton BEV haul truck with a huge, 770 kWh swappable battery pack.
Then they built 290 of them. (!)
Xinjiang Zijin Zinc is one of the largest mining operations in China, and the world. Despite its size, however, this zinc mine is surprisingly clean, using a smart, zero-carbon transport loop involving local wind, solar, and battery energy storage resources to slash carbon emissions, and costs. As such, choosing to transition its truck fleet from diesel to battery power was a no-brainer.
The energy cost per tonne kilometre for electric mining trucks is only about RMB0.177, compared to as high as RMB0.68 when using fossil energy. In addition, the safety and operating efficiency of electric mining trucks have notable advantages over diesel trucks. With fewer complex transmission components … these trucks have a much lower failure rate than that of fossil fuel vehicles. Moreover, the simpler operation of electric vehicles reduces the risk of accidents due to operational errors.
ZIJIN MINING SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
