Metals mining firm Boliden is going to use Volvo battery-electric trucks for heavy underground duties in one of its Swedish mines.
The deal between Boliden and Volvo Trucks will deliver two battery-electrics for use in the Kankberg mine outside Skellefteå in northern Sweden, the companies reported. The first truck, a Volvo FH Electric, will transport rock bolts and other equipment down into the mine and could begin as early as this year.
“This is an exciting collaboration in an environment with very tough demands; steep slopes, heavy loads and humid air that wears on the vehicles,” says Jessica Lindholm, project manager at Volvo Trucks. “The collaboration with Boliden will give us valuable knowledge about the performance of electric trucks when driven underground, and provide answers to questions about how the driveline and batteries are affected. Reduced carbon dioxide emissions for mining transport also means that we, indirectly, will reduce our own CO2 emissions, because the mining industry's raw materials are used in our trucks.”
Boliden and Volvo estimate that if all trucks in the mine were electric, this could reduce CO2 emissions in the operations by more than 25 percent. Boliden has vowed to cut its Scope 1 and 2 (direct and those associated with energy use such as grid electricity, respectively) CO2 emissions 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.
The second Volvo FH Electric truck, if and when deployed in mine, would be used for underground transport of rock and ore. The Kankberg site mines for gold and tellurium.
The international mining industry is uniting on several ways to electrify and decarbonize its operations.
Several years ago, Boliden digitized and automated most of its mining operations there with help from project partners Ericsson, ABB and Volvo, according to reports. A 5G system connects the mine from excavators to haulage and other equipment, according to news reports.
Currently, exhaust gases from diesel vehicles are responsible for most of the CO2 emissions in Boliden’s mines. The company owns and operates mines in several Scandinavian countries uncovering various metals including zinc, copper and nickel and also owns smelters within the continent.
Volvo is also providing vehicles for fleet electrification for a transport firm shuttling cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The automaker and coffee giant Starbucks are plotting a network of EV charging stations from Denver to Seattle.
