Shandong Honghe Baili Mining are to receive 40 electric autonomous wide body mining trucks, with deliveries already being under way.
The first Yutong YTK90E all electric autonomous wide body mining trucks have arrived in Zoucheng, Shandong Province, China. The mining trucks were created collaboratively by Yutong Mining Equipment and the autonomous driving technology company EACON. They will be used at a limestone mining operation of Shandong Honghe Baili Mining and will be part of a bigger fleet of 40 units delivered by the end of 2023.
The mining vehicles have a load capacity of 60 tonnes, can climb a 40% grade upward slope, and employ lithium-iron-phosphate batteries with a storage capacity of 350kWh. While this is the first deployment of electric mining trucks equipped with EACON technology, diesel autonomous-driving mining trucks outfitted with EACON systems have previously been employed in two big surface coal mines in Xinjiang Province with a combined capacity of more than 35m tonnes per year.
China’s mining sector has been advancing toward zero-emission mining fleet development in recent years to satisfy the national double-carbon policy, which seeks to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. As a result, the pure electric mine broad body truck is a crucial component of future low-carbon mine development.
However, electrive reports that China is not alone in its efforts to decarbonize mining. Canada announced a new federal tax credit in November 2022, to commence in the spring of 2023.
