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Fortescue, Liebherr protected orders for 100 electrical mining trucks, Forrest states

Australian miner Fortescue and GermanSwiss devices producer Liebherr have protected orders for 100 autonomous batterypowered mining trucks for other mining and transport companies, Fortescue Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest told Reuters.

The trucks were established as part of Forrest's strategy to cut Fortescue's direct and indirect carbon emissions to absolutely no by 2030. Fortescue is the world's fourth-largest iron ore miner.

Fortescue and Liebherr have actually gotten expressions of interest for hundreds more of the electrical version of the T 264 truck that they established together, Forrest informed Reuters in an interview in New york city.

The 240-tonne capacity trucks are more expensive than the roughly $5 million price for big diesel mining trucks. Fortescue and Liebherr, which teamed up in 2022 to establish the trucks, have not detailed the cost of the electric version.

The two business signed a

$ 2.8 billion partnership

on Wednesday to provide 360 of the trucks to Fortescue, three times as numerous as the 120 prepared under the preliminary collaboration. They would likewise supply 55 electric excavators and 60 battery-powered dozers. The automobiles they have actually established would be offered for other companies, the business stated on Wednesday.

Fortescue develops the drive trains and batteries, which it established, while Liebherr provides the truck, Forrest said.

They are more trusted and more productive than diesel trucks, he said.

That's our holy grail, that we can take on the fossil fuel trucks with our first edition. That's not a bad outcome. Instantly competitive.

The company has actually likewise developed a method to fully charge the big trucks in 30 minutes, he stated. The technology was scaled up from the technology used to charge electronic racing automobiles utilized in Solution E, he said.

Fortescue is conserving $300 million to $400 million per year on fuel expenses already from battery-powered trucks in its fleet, Forrest stated.

Fuel and energy costs are the greatest operating costs for Fortescue, he said. Eliminating a few of those expenses would assist the company weather condition structural changes in the iron ore market, he said.

Iron ore prices are hovering near two-year lows plumbed previously this month around $91 a tonnes as more supply comes on line in the middle of top buyer China's financial downturn.

Fuel is likewise one of the company's biggest emissions sources. Fortescue's mining fleet taken in about 450 million litres of diesel in FY24, representing 51% of its scope 1 carbon emissions.

Fortescue has actually been checking out various strategies to produce green iron metal. The business ultimately wishes to transform all its iron ore into green iron, Forrest stated, declining to state when it may fulfill that target.

There would be strong need for green iron from steel plants in China, Japan, South Korea and Europe, he stated.

They'll take it immediately, he said. As they can make steel without the contamination.

(source: Reuters)