Mining equipment major Epiroc has landed a A$350 million supply deal with Fortescue to deliver autonomous, electric surface drills over the next five years.
The manufacturer’s “largest order contract in Epiroc’s history” will see it provide the Western Australia iron ore giant Fortescue with a large fleet of cable-electric Pit Viper 271 E and battery-electric SmartROC D65 BE blasthole drill rigs.
Fortescue says the driverless machines will eventually be operated fully autonomously from Fortescue’s Integrated Operations Centre in Perth more than 1500km away from its Pilbara operations. It says the machines will eliminate about 35 million litres a year of diesel use.
“The deployment of this new fleet of electric drills will immediately start reducing our carbon footprint, cutting over 90,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually once the fleet is operational,” Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto said at a Perth signing ceremony.
“To decarbonise, we’re aiming to swap out around 800 pieces of heavy mining equipment with zero emissions alternatives by the end of the decade, as well as deploy 2-3GW of renewable energy and battery storage across the Pilbara.”
Epiroc CEO Helena Hedblom said Fortescue was in the mining industry vanguard on safety and environmental impact.
“Not only is this the largest contract we have ever received but it is also a major step forward for our electric-powered surface equipment,” she said.
