HIGH PROFILE
Beyond the GR8
While this timeline dictates that the emphasis of MacLean’ s surface mining build out is focused on Fortescue and the GR8 currently, in the next three to five years Jacques and Stern are confident there will be three products within this new portfolio.
“ So, one of them is something we actually use in underground mining now, but has no apparent presence in surface mining yet, which is a cassette truck product,” Jacques said.
In an underground scenario, cassette trucks are seen as versatile, multi-functional systems that can provide for reduced fleet size and lower capital equipment
The battery-electric GR8 boasts a top speed of 45 km / h, four to five hours of operation and a more than 100 km driving range on a single charge, according to David Jacques
investments. The various cassettes have a universal“ quick attach” mechanism that allows them to be paired with any prime mover.
Stern said:“ As you go around openpit mine sites, you see a lot of low-hour equipment sitting around that has less than 2,000 hours a year on the clock. By using a battery-electric cassette truck, you can remove the need for such equipment and spread the initial capital outlay across various applications it can serve.”
Jacques added:“ They’ re typically hitched to different application ends over the course of a day or a week, depending on where the need is, to get better utilisation of the costliest part of your whole asset.”
Stern and Jacques have already‘ sold’ some customers on the potential to use these in a surface mining scenario, they said.“ The reaction tends to be,‘ I’ ve never seen that’, before turning to,‘ Wait, you’ re saying that I don’ t need to buy a dedicated fuel truck and a dedicated water truck and a dedicated deck truck, etc,’” Jacques said.“ Instead, they could buy, maybe, three prime movers in a cassette truck format, with six or eight cassettes to interchange based on actual site-based needs.”
Stern expanded:“ With a cassette truck, the base module is the flat deck cassette, but you can turn it into anything – a water sprayer with an added water tank, fuel and lube truck, a shipping container handler, mobile charging station, etc. You can also put a small dump box on there.
“ You effectively have a carrier for any
application you can dream of.”
The initial renders of these machines – like the GR8 – look to be highly operator focused with improved visibility and comfort among the top priorities.
Asked about the likelihood of these machines having regional appeal in certain markets, Jacques and Stern were resolute in there being global demand across the board.
“ All companies talk about electrification and decarbonisation on a global scale, not just in certain countries,” Stern said.
Jacques added:“ When you get into the language of enabling a fleet that has a lower total cost of ownership as well as higher overall utilisation with less capital outlay at the beginning, it’ s easy to have the conversation with any mining company, regardless of where they are based.”
Maintaining technology flexibility
The phrase“ never say never” came up on a few occasions when IM spoke to Jacques and Stern about alternate energy systems, but it was clear the priority is for all these products to be driven by battery-electric means.
Stern says battery technology today is akin to home computing in the late 1990s and early 2000s, where the evolutionary pace means technology is improving every six or so months.
“ The GR8, for example, is expected to have a mid-life battery change around 30,000 hours,” he said.“ By the time this change comes around in four-to-five years, there may be a better battery available that we can take advantage of.”
The philosophy the company is taking is to maximise the potential duty cycle and benefit from a fast charge using a Megawatt Charging System. However, MacLean also recognises that some operations will have duty cycles that are better served by smaller chargers placed in strategic areas.
“ Basically, for every one hour of charging, you get 10 hours of work time,” Jacques said.“ That 10:1 ratio is a target number we always strive for.”
It is this conviction that the company is retaining in its decarbonisation pursuit.
Jacques said:“ We’ ve never done hybrid in the underground sector, but we are currently evaluating the need for this on surface.
“ Yet outside of just pure diesel and the current crop of battery technologies, other zero emission technology like fuel cells and solid state batteries may evolve to the point where they come into our wheelhouse to, again, expand that duty cycle.
“ We’ ll always be willing to retool to those newer technologies as they come online.”
But the message is not to sit back and wait for these newer technologies to mature; it is about investing today to start leveraging all the benefits and important learnings that come with electrification.
“ The companies we are now talking to didn’ t initially realise they can have batteryelectric ancillary equipment operating on their mine site within five years, delivering productivity benefits, as well as reductions in operating costs and CO 2 emissions,” Jacques said.“ That is a lot faster than they expected and really speaks to how engaged we are when it comes to solving problems and helping our customers accelerate their goals.”
International Mining | APRIL 2026 45