Heavyweight Toronto-listed copper miner First Quantum Minerals has secured a UK patent and trademark protection for its Quantum Electra-Haul trolley-assist methodology, developed over the past 14 years with mining truck makers Hitachi, Liebherr and Komatsu, and various sub-suppliers.
FQM’s trolley-assist blueprint includes mobile transformers, electrical houses and trolley lines that move with surface pit expansion. The company is said to have developed and maintained pantographs and mountings while refining its approach to rapid trolley relocation, haul road maintenance and traffic management.
The circa-C$37 billion miner has a reported 15km-plus of electrified trolley-assist infrastructure at its Kansanshi and Sentinel copper mines in Zambia, where it says the Quantum Electra-Haul system has cut heavy truck fuel consumption from 650 litres per hour to 60lph and doubled average truck ramp speeds to 22kmph. FQM said it logged nearly 500,000km of trolley-assisted haulage in 2025.
The company’s director of mine operations and technology, Gordon White said he believed heavy-haulage trolley-assist was pivotal for decarbonising mine load and haul operations.
“The world needs copper to be mined in a responsible manner. Mining is no longer just an extractive industry and we need to contribute meaningfully to the environment and to the communities around us,” he said.
“Our patented trolley-assist solution, Quantum Electra-Haul, is a key element of this evolution.
“First Quantum has mastered this technology by working with long-term partners to provide stable platforms with multiple trucks on the overhead line at the same time. In addition we have worked to design and implement critical hardware such as transformers, E-Houses and trolley line systems.
“It’s very pleasing for the business to receive this patent and trademark conformation, a strong endorsement of the innovation, precision and creativity that runs throughout First Quantum.”
