UNDERGROUND LOAD AND HAUL
Eldorado Gold has seen a plus-39 % productivity boost compared with the diesel-powered TH545i baseline at Lamaque, as well as an estimated maintenance cost drop for the trucks of 50 %, Martin Pichette told delegates at The Electric Mine 2026
is that some of our clients were clearly stating a need to bring this model to underground operations,” Gustafsson said.
The Nordkust HT66B / HT77B Electric platforms are all-electric 6x4 / 8x4 haulage platforms developed around existing mine geometry, payload requirements, charging windows and route-based productivity.
Depending on configuration, the current preliminary specification includes 35-42 t payload, 600 kWh LFP battery capacity, CCS2 charging, charging power below 400 kW, 50 km / h maximum speed, ROPS / FOPS cab, protected battery placement behind the cab and an SLP mining dump body with Hardox ® 450 wear steel.
It was the HT77B, the 42-t payload 8 x 4 vehicle boasting a 3.2 m height, 2.6 m width and circa-8.5 m length, that was highlighted at The Electric Mine 2026. With a price from € 350,000($ 407,544) and that 600 kWh battery capacity, its launch led to a lot of interest from the electrification-focused crowd, according to Gustafsson and Dittrich.
“ What we would like to emphasise is the full HT concept: matching the truck, battery capacity, charging infrastructure, service setup and productivity calculations to the actual haulage route, rather than treating electrification as a like-for-like diesel replacement,” they said.“ For mines with constrained drift dimensions or existing underground infrastructure, this can make battery-electric haulage a more practical and commercially-relevant option.”
Gustafsson said all three vehicles – including the HT66S, which has a sidemounted battery for increased flexibility – could offer an alternative to the on-road trucks used on occasion at underground mines where ramp maintenance is top quality, or mining-specific equipment the likes of Epiroc and Sandvik produce.
“ What we are offering is between the 8x4 / 6x4 road trucks and the more tailored underground machines from mining OEMs,” Gustafsson said.“ In several applications, the
haulage economics of our machines are exceptionally good when it comes to the cost per tonne.”
The 600 kWh battery capacity is also an important part of the route-based approach. On suitable routes, depending on gradient, cycle distance, payload and charging strategy, it may reduce the need for additional infrastructure such as trolley assist for uphill haulage, according to
Gustafsson. Dittrich and Gustafsson concluded:“ With the HT77B Electric, and the wider HT platform concept, the goal is not only to remove diesel from underground haulage. The goal is to make electrification fit the mine that already exists; its drift dimensions, production flow, charging windows and service requirements, all while retaining a payload that makes sense for real haulage productivity.”
Journey to net zero
The latest The Electric Mine conference provided yet another opportunity to take the pulse of the underground mining market’ s appetite to electrify load and haul applications, with many of the major OEMs as well as several mining companies providing updates on their own electrification journeys.
Input from Sandvik, Epiroc and Scania mainly focused on the battery-electric advances the companies were making; representatives of the former two companies also contributed to the‘ Keeping flexible, interoperable trolley in the mine electrification mix’ panel, while Epiroc copresented with ABB and Boliden on the battery-trolley developments at Ravliden in Sweden.
Komatsu, meanwhile, spoke in tandem with mining company partner K + S on the development of the WX14LPE, as mentioned earlier.
It was down to Eldorado Gold and Codelco to bang the battery-electric drum on behalf of the mining companies at the event, with LKAB also providing valuable input to a talk from Ebrahim Nikafroozi( Strategic Global Account Manager at Scania CV).
Nikafroozi of Scania walked through the journey from the first-generation Scania battery-electric vehicle – a heavy tipper delivered in 2022 – through to the most recent trial of a first-of-its-kind fully electric 8 × 4 heavy tipper with two steerable front axles, which was recently deployed for haulage on surface, transporting waste rock at Malmberget iron ore mine in northern Sweden. In addition, two 3-axle BEV prime movers with trailers have been deployed for underground ore transport, operating over 800-2,500 m loops with 70-t payloads.
These new trucks are transporting ore at this operation over 800-2,500 m loops with a 70-t payload.
“ Our goal is by 2027 to have electrified at least 30 % of our total fleet of vehicles in the mine, hauling and loading at least 5 Mt / y without any emissions,” Pär Sundqvist, Senior Engineer in Electrification & Automation LKAB, stated via a video in this talk.
Ravliden, meanwhile, represents Boliden’ s first“ fully-electric mine” that the company is building.“ What we are trying to do here is to develop a standard for underground electrification within our company,” Rikard Maki, Head of Electrification and Automation at Boliden, said.
A major part of this electric plan is the 5-km trolley line that combines an innovative battery trolley system using four Epiroc battery-electric trolley trucks( Minetruck MT42 SGs) combined with three batteryelectric Scooptram ST18 SG loaders and two battery-electric Minetruck MT42 SG trucks in the stoping area.
Having seen the numbers of cycles, production volume and carbon emission reductions grow between November and April, the companies are now looking into automation of the battery-trolley trucks on this trolley line:
Mattias Pettersson, Global Portfolio Manager for Loaders and Trucks at Epiroc, reported on automation progress with the project, saying:“ The project scope is that we will be fully autonomous for the underground section, so we will load autonomously and then tram autonomously. And then, when we reach the surface, we will take over, run it teleremotely and dump in the stockpile.” The pantograph management in autonomous mode on this trolley section will be one area to watch specifically.
Eldorado Gold has been through its own learning curve, as was made clear by Martin Pichette, Senior Director, Mining Operations and Technology, during his time on stage.
The company started with two TH550B battery-electric trucks from Sandvik in 2023- 2024, both of which were delivered to its Lamaque gold mine in Quebec, Canada.
The introduction of these initial electric trucks was part of the strategy of progressive electrification of the equipment fleet at Lamaque and supported efforts to electrify transportation in the Sigma- Lamaque underground ramp, the company said.
16 International Mining | JULY 2026