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INTERNATIONAL MINING PROFILES
Batteries to BEVs
A global leader in battery supply and technology and a major mining services company have joined hands in China to create HATL - bringing both new electric mining equipment and full conversion of existing equipment to the market
With any battery electric mining equipment option , the battery packs are at the heart the solution in terms of weight , energy performance , and of course cost . Given that mining equipment production , and large mining trucks in particular , is a niche industry relative to automotive , the question is often asked why leading battery suppliers would not seek to go downstream and produce mining equipment themselves ? They are already upstream with their own lithium mining and extraction operations . And why battery makers are not getting directly involved in retrofitting batteries into mining equipment ?
In fact , both have already happened . Hongda Blasting and CATL formed the new joint venture Fujian Hongda Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd ( HATL ) in December 2020 , against the background of China ’ s 3060 decarbonisation goal - a commitment to hit peak emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 . Based on CATL ’ s achievements in the area of battery and electrification applications and Hongda Blasting ’ s overall service capabilities and advantages in the field of mining services , HATL has set out to further intelligent integration of electrification in mining equipment for customers .
Hongda Blasting was founded in 1988 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned Guangdong Hongda . It is specialised in mining services for large and medium open pit mines plus underground mines , with a specific expertise in on-site mixed explosives . It is also experienced in mining equipment performance data analysis .
Founded in 2011 , CATL currently has five R & D bases and 13 production bases globally . In 2022 its battery sales reached 289 GW and its global market share in batteries and energy storage stood at 37 % and 43.4 % respectively . This leadership position continued in 2023 and 2024 .
HATL has six core technologies through independent innovation - vehicle control technology , system integration technology , energy management technology , electric transmission technology , wire control chassis technology and lightweight design technology which collectively brings complete machine and system development capability .
New HATL mining equipment supply
HATL has developed its own wide body battery mining trucks for open pit mining ranging from the 60 t class HC90EA and HC90EB , to the 70 t class HC105E and 85 t HC135E . The largest model has a battery capacity of 704 kW / h and motor power / rated peak of 560 / 800kW . All the models use a 6 x 4 configuration . HATL also offers a 20 t class underground BEV truck , the HC33E .
The HC105E has seen wide success including at the Shaoguan polymetallic mine in Guandong , which includes underground and surface operation ; plus the Fengkai granite quarry in Guangdong . Other projects using the HC105E are the Mozhu Gongka copper-moly mine in Tibet province at over 5,000 m where each HATL truck can reduce CO 2 emissions by 0.77 t per day . At the Shanghang gold-copper mine in Fujian the trucks have achieved over 95 % availability in challenging conditions . HATL trucks are also used at the Hengyang iron ore mine in Hunan Province .
These models combine a mature chassis design with a newly designed battery system , electric drive , cooling system , auxiliary system and vehicle control system . HATL says it has applied for 33 patents and was involved in the formulation of five industry standards including technical conditions and test methods for pure electric off highway wide body mining trucks . It has two sets of independent braking systems - mechanical and electric to provide redundancy . Annual energy consumption is about 70 % less than diesel with feedback energy greater with
HATL ' s new equipment including the HC105E battery wide body mining truck , is already being widely adopted loaded downhill operation . Annual parts costs are estimated at 30-35 % less plus maintenance labour intensity is reduced . The traction motors offer superior acceleration and smooth driving plus at lower speeds having high torque . Battery operation reduces vibration and therefore impact on the frame . The motor output is more linear with less impact on the transmission system . CAN-based comms are used which can monitor the running status of the vehicle in real time and recommend and make adjustments . Wire control modules are an option for all HATL products including fully autonomous driving .
The drive enabling switch is configured , which avoids misoperation . High powered traction motors bring higher efficiency - the acceleration and electric braking performance ( charging capacity for heavy load downhill ) are increased by 30 %. Heavy load uphill shifting is smooth avoiding slope sliding with the dual motor dual gearbox limp function , it can return to a safe area by itself even in the case of partial component failure .
Full and advanced conversion to all electric operation
Another big focus for HATL is remanufacturing to all electric operation for rigid mining trucks
Having achieved success in converting 50-120 ton class diesel to battery conversions of rigid trucks , HATL is now working on the 220 ton plus class and large loaders . HATL has been doing this for years now with success – as an example , all electric reman to the HAT- R60E and HAT-R100E has been done at the Wenshan lead-zincindium mine in Yunnan . HATL says it is now leading the way in domestic mining construction machinery electric drive system iterative upgrade product technology .
The vehicle becomes battery plus converter plus motor operated . The retrofit brings higher performance , lower energy consumption and maintenance costs and a longer service life with zero carbon emissions . The retrofit is modular , with no gearbox and uses pressure control technology , reducing energy consumption . This means after the system pressure reaches a set
8 International Mining | OCTOBER 2024