THE LEADER VOLUME 20 • NUMBER 7
Editorial Director Paul Moore BSc( Hons), MSc paul @ im-mining. com
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China’ s time to shine
In mid-June, IM completed a country-wide tour of China covering four leading equipment OEMs- XCMG, Tonly, NHL and Yutong- one major OEMagnostic AHS technology player, EACON Mining, and three mining operations. The visit kicked off with a day in Xuzhou with XCMG, just a few days after a BHP delegation departed after signing a new global framework agreement with the company.
According to the framework agreement, the two sides will deepen cooperation in multiple dimensions such as joint equipment research and development, full life cycle management, and localised service system construction.
XCMG will fully utilise its expertise in the R & D and manufacturing of large-scale mining equipment, and work with BHP to explore and develop sustainable equipment that meets the highest international technical standards, safety norms and sustainability.
This was IM’ s first China tour since 2019, when we visited SANY in Shenyang, CITIC HIC in Luoyang, LiuGong in Liuzhou, TYHI in Taiyuan and NHL in Baotou. And the attitude towards Chinese OEMs from major mining houses has most definitely shifted since then.
Taking XCMG, developments such as its landmark recent agreement with BHP, its in progress delivery of a fleet of large mining trucks to Rio Tinto’ s Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, as well as its US $ 400 million contract with Fortescue for a range of battery electric machines show a real change in the depth of engagement and cooperation with the top miners. And XCMG is not alone – Tonly for example is working with Rio Tinto on a trial project at Oyu Tolgoi in a trial with wide body battery trucks using battery swapping.
Visits by mining group engineering and procurement teams to China are also now much more commonplace – both to the OEM factories themselves and to shows like bauma China. This reflects a clear will to get to know the Chinese OEMs better and to understand them better. And a key driver in this is that all the big miners have set emissions reduction targets and for Scope 1 they need more options.
From an IM point of view on the ground in China, there were a number of factors in play as to why the atmosphere has changed. By far the most important one is that today, China is leading the innovation, not trying to replicate what the Western players like Caterpillar and Komatsu are doing which may have been true in the past. Wide body trucks are a good example – proven at scale they can carry a higher payload in relation to their size which means increased productivity. Then compared to the traditional two axle rigid mining truck, they are much more economical to run, with a very competitive initial cost as well as low ongoing maintenance costs.
But this innovation applies particularly in green energy solutions for mining equipment. Battery and hybrid wide body mining trucks are running today in China in their thousands, with the battery trucks recharged both by plug in charging and battery swapping.
They have been proven in challenging climates and conditions like Inner Mongolia. Chinese OEMs have also developed mining trucks to operate on other fuels like methanol, ethanol and LNG.
The Chinese battery cell suppliers like BYD and CATL are far ahead in terms of energy density and industrial scale-up – and are working closely with the Chinese equipment companies. IM toured the XCMG Power battery pack production line, with lithium iron phosphate cells supplied by BYD’ s factory, also in Xuzhou. Going forward, different BYD battery packs will enable different drive configurations – such as hybrid drives or short charging times.
After green energy, the next point is OEMagnostic and AI-enabled autonomy. While that is a fast developing market outside of China as well, within China, it is much more mature – EACON Mining is the best example – it has now passed the milestone of over 1,500 autonomous mining trucks running with its ORCASTRA system, and this includes all the major Chinese mining truck OEMs with which it is working closely.
A good example of innovation spanning autonomy and green energy is the entry into production of a fleet of 100 battery electric, cabless unmanned mining trucks at the Yimin coal mine in Inner Mongolia – the result of a partnership including the customer China Huaneng, Huawei supplying a 5G-A network and autonomous driving technology, plus XCMG delivering the cabless battery truck.
Another factor is capability and flexibility from a scale and engineering point of view. Companies like XCMG have vast engineering teams and R & D departments staffed by doctorate level professionals that are working with the mining majors to tailor solutions to their needs in core areas like hydraulics, brakes, frame, suspension etc. Plus the major Chinese factories are equipped with the latest technology – for example all robotic welding. And the quality of available speciality and high strength steels in China is very high. Not just that, the factories are huge in scale without facing the challenges of long lead times, with multiple shipping options from some of the world’ s largest ports.
Paul Moore Editorial Director paul @ im-mining. com
International Mining | JULY 2025 3