Sandvik and Barrick partnered on a three-year production trial of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) underground. During the trial, Sandvik will deploy four Artisan Z50 trucks at Turquoise Ridge gold mine.
The 50-metric-ton haul truck, with a battery-electric powertrain, is equipped with AutoSwap, the battery-swapping system by Artisan. Changing a battery can be completed in 6 minutes, and can be done in a passing bay or an old re-muck bay with no cranes or other infrastructure needed.
In previous trials, the truck achieved 1,400 hours of production. It proved it could operate 18 hours per day.
The miner reported the development reflects its desire to improve performance, sustainability and efficiency. “This partnership with Sandvik is exciting and will give us first-hand experience in BEV technology in our own production environment,” Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said. “It is a significant step to furthering our BEV strategy across the group.”
