China’s emergence as a mining technology financing centre is evident in a new US$44.5 million equity raise by Eacon Mining Technology, with the Beijing-based company now having raised close to $100 million in the past six months.
More than $200 million has recently been injected into other Chinese mining automation tech firms.
Eacon’s latest financing was led by mining major Zijin Mining and investment group Minxi Xinghang, which have both previously invested in the tech company.
Eacon says the funds will be used for “technology and product R&D and mining area operation management”.
Six-year-old Eacon describes itself as a leading autonomous haulage solution company providing OEM-agnostic autonomous systems and “zero-emission truck engineering”.
The company says it has deployed autonomous truck fleets at four of China’s top 10 openpit coal mines.
Last year it supplied a zero-emission, fully autonomous truck fleet for a sand and aggregate mine at Fushan, Shandong.
Eacon co-founder and chair, Zhang Lei, said the company aimed to expand its deployed auto-truck fleet from circa-300 units to 1000 vehicles by the end of this year. He expects to launch a pilot project in Australia this year.
Zijin Mining and Minxi Xinghang were described as “optimistic about the future of autonomous driving in mining and firmly acknowledge the strategy roadmap of Eacon”.
