HIGH PROFILE
Battery haulers
IM Editorial Director, Paul Moore, recently had the chance
to catch up with Gernot Beutle, eMining Switzerland
Sales Project Manager, to get an exclusive insight into
progress with its all electric mining truck program
eMining remains the only company globally to
have successfully built and put into commercial
operation a fully battery powered surface mining
haul truck, which is a converted Komatsu HD605-
7 (63 t payload) “eDumper”. The first machine has
now been running for some time at the launch
customer Ciments Vigier SA’s limestone quarry
near Biel-Bienne in Switzerland.
PM: What is the status of the quarry project in
Switzerland, how many trucks are now running
there and what are the plans going forward?
GB: Up to now, we still have just one 605-7
conversion eDumper machine in operation;
currently we are looking at higher payload dump
trucks as future targets. However, we are talking
to our existing client about adding more trucks,
though this will depend on their investment plan.
Elsewhere, we are in discussions with many
potential customers around the world. As an
example, one industrial minerals mining company
intends to purchase four units of our 605-7
conversion machines. We have completed the
planning and assessment stage and are at the
negotiation stage.
PM: What refinements to the design have you
made to the HD605 based truck based on the
project?
GB: The drivetrain has been completely removed
and refurbished, and the whole package was
replaced by an electric motor/planetary gear
drivetrain. Also, due to the lack of dump body
heating (no exhaust gases) and the fact that this
operation includes cold winter conditions we had
to use new build rubber suspended dump bodies
(SDBs) from Duratray on the truck.
PM: Is the current truck now part of normal
operations at the mine?
GB: Yes, for a year now and with great success, I
must add. Compared with conventional diesel
trucks our truck has higher torque, higher speed
and better acceleration meaning it can achieve
higher efficiencies. So, overall operational cost is
lower but the initial capital cost is still
significantly higher. We are therefore calculating
its value based on TCO to the mining customer.
Maintenance is less demanding with the diesel-
powered machine due to a more robust design of
the electric components and less wear.
PM: What are the main lessons learned from the
project so far?
GB: In poor road conditions, the energy demand
on the truck when using snow chains was higher
than expected but was not an issue in normal
road conditions, and only a minority of surface
mines have to use chains anyway. We also think
going forward that the charging station should be
in our scope in order to avoid interface problems.
PM: What about charging? How is the truck
currently charged and how will this change going
forward? Also, will you stick with the same battery
type?
GB: Currently the truck is charged overnight using
a fixed plug in charging station located in a
dedicated truck park area. This charge is enough
for up to three days of operation. Having said
that, this is still not suitable for most metallic
mining operations that run 24/7, with the
exception of some specific mines with a lot of
downhills where the battery can recharge that
way. So we are working on fast charging of only
10-15 minutes as well as using automated
charging stations. But this will require use of
different battery chemistry; currently the truck
uses NMC lithium ion batteries but we will need
to switch to LTO lithium ion. This will likely be
done on the 63 t truck first but the mentioned
new sales that are in discussion still relate to
trucks with NMC batteries. The other issue with
NMC is the lifespan as they need changing every
three to four years. But overall batteries are
getting lighter, cheaper and smaller which helps
us. And the drive to zero carbon emissions
continues so there is a lot of scope in this market.
PM: To what extent are you working directly with
Komatsu or other OEMs on the technology going
forward and potential for the 100 t truck?
GB: Our business is to convert machines of all
brands if it is environmentally thorough and
economically feasible. I can say that all the major
mining truck OEMs have signalled high interest in
our product and some have also been to the
quarry to see the truck. But the biggest potential
worldwide are 110 ton (100 t) trucks which will be
our major focus development for the coming
years.
PM: To what extent have you received interest
around the world in eMining and do you have
plans to market the truck technology globally?
Would this be independent from your major
shareholder KUHN Schweiz?
GB: We have projects in Europe and overseas with
well-known companies in this industry looking at
feasibility studies and engineering studies etc.
Apart from the mentioned OEM discussions, this
is mainly with the mining companies themselves
who have obviously shown great interest and
some of these mining houses have also visited
the truck. One business model will also include a
possibility to deliver component kits and services
with the opportunity of our clients or sales
partners to assemble the vehicles on their own.
KUHN Switzerland will always be our main
stakeholder but the fact that we will offer this
technology to everybody will make us
independent to a certain degree.
PM: What are the next steps for eMining for 2019
and 2020 in terms of plans and major milestones
coming up?
GB: As our main priority, we will market the
eDumper 605-7 conversions in order to have our
operation running smoothly. As an evolution, as
stated there will be an eDumper 605 version with
a fast charging battery chemistry and an
automatic charging station for operations with
more than 2,500 hours per year of operation. The
110 ton eDumper vehicle will be our other major
development focus for the next few years. IM
AUGUST 2019 | International Mining 71