Major savings, better future for workers in the new mine electrification era

Miners are advancing down the modern electrification road, but knowledge gap must be addressed

Richard Roberts

Industry leaders say mining’s “modern” electrification course is set.

However, critical knowledge about new equipment, operating systems and a shifting regulatory environment is a vital gap to be filled as the industry seeks to accelerate toward major potential operating and environmental benefits.
Sarah de Vries MAusIMM, Principal Consultant at Snowden Optiro, says miners currently have a range of options available to them to cut scope 1 carbon emissions and start making a bigger dent in the estimated 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions generated by the mining industry. McKinsey & Co maintains 40-50% of this comes from diesel combustion in mobile equipment at the more than 15,000 mines the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) has listed on a new database.

de Vries says mines can:
- Replace fossil fuel power generation with solar, wind and hydropower, and utilise short-term and long-term battery energy storage systems (BESS).
- Eliminate or slash diesel use from truck haulage by adopting in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC), rope-conveyor, Railveyor, trolley-assist and other electrification technologies.
- Use cable-electric surface face shovels and excavators, and tethered underground loaders, instead of diesel machines.
- Replace diesel trucks and loaders with diesel-electric trucks and loaders, reducing fuel consumption by up to 30%.
- Use electric drills instead of diesel drills.
- Reduce diesel consumption by replacing diesel with biofuel and renewable diesel.
- Adopt modern vehicle remote health monitoring, fleet management and mine planning systems and AI to optimise efficiencies and slash diesel fuel burn.

Parts of the industry have adopted some of these measures in the pursuit of aggressive carbon emission reduction goals and net zero targets.

Newmont’s Borden mine in Ontario became the first underground gold mine in Canada to transition to a fully battery electric fleet in 2019. Australia’s Bellevue Gold has just produced the world’s first ‘net zero gold’. Major surface iron ore and underground copper and base metal mines have placed record orders for battery-electric equipment in 2024 and 2025.

Major Swedish mining equipment manufacturer Epiroc, which has supplied more than 600 battery electric vehicles at over 30 sites, aims to have a battery-electric version of every machine in its current portfolio available by 2030. Peer Sandvik is targeting 50% BEV sales in the 2030s.

Canada’s MacLean Engineering, which has supplied more than 100 underground BEVs to North American mines since 2015, says nearly half the companies based in the region doing new project feasibility studies are requesting BEV quotes.

A 2024 State of Play industry report said the evolution of battery technology had been central to technology advances driving “modern electrification” of mines.

“This leap in technology reduces operational downtime and maintenance costs, making electric alternatives not just a sustainable choice, but also an economically sensible one,” the report said.

Illustrating the shift, lithium-ion battery prices had fallen from US$780 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2013 down to $139/ kWh by 2023. The 82% reduction reflected significant technological advancements and economies of scale, the report said.

Ultra-fast charging stations and wireless charging solutions able to keep electric mining vehicles operating continuously with minimal interruptions were also being commercialised. “Moreover, the cost of electric mining equipment is becoming more competitive. Although electric vehicles are characterised by higher capital hurdles, their long-term benefits in terms of fuel savings and reduced maintenance are undeniable. A recent report has stated that electrifying a single 150-tonne diesel truck usually requiring over US$850,000 per year in fuel can save mining companies $5.5 million in energy costs per vehicle over its lifetime.”

“Electricity is cheaper than diesel,” says Snowden Optiro’s de Vries. She says electric motors are significantly more efficient than diesel engines. Electric vehicles are faster, particularly on inclined ramps, and have lower maintenance costs.

Underground, electric vehicles can slash ventilation and cooling costs. Electric vehicles are quieter and don’t emit noxious fumes and diesel particulate matter.

In open cut mines diesel-electric trucks are already reducing fuel consumption by up to 30%.

Despite progress, challenges remain with battery technology, says a 2025 report from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. It says: “While urban freight and certain mining equipment are amenable to electrification, longer distance freight and some heavy machinery face challenges related to battery range and charging infrastructure.

“Current technology barriers include energy density limitations of diesel alternatives, which are required to operate at high power outputs over long duty cycles, making performance constraints a key issue; weight of battery systems in electric vehicles affecting freight and mining payloads; and storage and transportation of compressed hydrogen over long distances.”

Australia’s Future Battery Industries CRC (FBICRC), part of the country’s publicly-funded Co-operative Research Centres program, says its Mine Operational Vehicle Electrification (MOVE) project highlighted the complexity of mining’s new electrification transition.

Investment in infrastructure, technologies and hardware, and changes to processes and operations are all vital. Perhaps most critical of all, though, is investment in people. The future workforce must be trained and upskilled to work safely in electric mines.

The FBICRC says: “Development of a skilled workforce can be achieved in several ways, including by offering tailored training programs covering topics such as battery selection and specification, power electronics, safety, maintenance and operation of batteries, optimal system design and daily operation under renewable, battery storage and microgrid technologies.”