Trucks, excavators and dozers: 475 mining vehicles electrify in $2.8bn deal

Global metal mining company Fortescue and construction machine manufacturer Liebherr have signed a US$2.8 billion green equipment partnership for autonomous, electric and battery-based mining solutions.

The partnership includes jointly developed technology, featuring a total of 475 zero-emission Liebherr machines, including 360 autonomous T 264 battery-electric trucks, 55 electric excavators and 60 battery-powered dozers.

Overall, the new equipment will represent approximately two-thirds of the current mining fleet at Fortescue’s operations.

Electrified mining

As part of the deal, German-Swiss company Liebherr and Australia-based Fortescue will deploy a complete autonomous battery-electric haulage solution for large scale mining operations.

All of the trucks in the fleet will be equipped with a zero-emission battery power system developed by Fortescue Zero and the jointly developed Autonomous Haulage Solution (AHS) – both of which were built to be scalable so they can be retrofitted onto existing Liebherr haul trucks.

Fortescue also developed a stationary fast charging solution to support the autonomous battery-electric trucks. Equipped with robotic connection options, the charger can provide up to 6MW of power and charge the current battery-electric T 264 in 30 minutes.

The AHS, which was co-developed using both companies’ expertise, also includes an energy management system that coordinates the static recharge assignments for the trucks and ensures the charger is fully utilised without causing queuing on site.

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Liebherr and Fortescue will combine their considerable expertise to jointly develop a zero-emission dozer.

Fortescue’s battery power system will also be integrated into an electric version of the Liebherr’s flagship mining dozer, the PR 776, which is currently in development. Once developed, Liebherr will supply Fortescue with 60 units of this zero-emission dozing solution to meet Fortescue’s Real Zero targets.

The deal also includes the supply of 55 R 9400 E electric excavators, a fleet consisting of a mix of backhoe and face shovel configurations.

All 475 machines under the deal will become part of Fortescue’s iron ore hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Commenting in a release was Oliver Weiss, executive vice president, R&D, engineering and production, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS: “We wanted to design and build an intelligent, state-of-the-art AHS that not only includes the know-how from both an OEM and a mining operator generated over the last few years but will also be able to integrate with new zero emission solutions in the future.

“Therefore, control and command of zero emission mining technologies were included in the AHS from the outset. The fleet management assignment engine at the core of the AHS monitors fleet energy levels so that jobs and energy replenishment tasks can be assigned efficiently within zero emission fleets equipped with this system.”

A zero emission mining ecosystem

The large scale zero emission mining ecosystem developed by Liebherr and Fortescue will be available to the rest of the mining industry in the near future, say the partners in a release.

This deal is expected to create one of the world’s largest zero emission mining fleets.

It is also the single largest equipment deal in the Liebherr Group’s 75-year history and is Fortescue’s single largest-ever contract.

The partnership was announced at this year’s MINExpo in Las Vegas, US, where Liebherr and Fortescue also unveiled their jointly-developed T 264.

Said Dr Jörg Lukowski, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS: “We are proud to have facilitated the single largest equipment deal in the entire 75-year history of the Liebherr Group. Especially as the expansion of our collaboration with Fortescue is an important step forward in our shared goal to decarbonise mining activities worldwide.

“The technology developed as part of this record-breaking deal will not only support our customers along their decarbonisation journeys but also help us honour our commitment to offer completely fossil fuel free hauling, loading and dozing solutions by the end of the decade.”

Added Dr Andrew Forrest, executive chairman of Fortescue: “Partnerships with companies and people like Liebherr and Willi Liebherr – where ambition is backed by action – are critical.

“The green solutions we need are here today, and Fortescue Zero is supplying them and rolling them out across our massive mining operations. Fortescue Zero developed this battery technology and jointly developed the Automated Haulage Solution, leading the way to provide green innovative solutions to eliminate emissions from heavy industry.

“We invite all companies in the mining, heavy industry and haulage sectors to join us. The solutions are there, and the missing ingredient is leadership.”

The T 264 battery-electric truck will commence onsite validation at the end of 2025. The fleet has already begun arriving at Fortescue’s Western Australian operations, with the first trucks delivered to Fortescue’s Eliwana mine in October 2023.

The initial 240-tonne capacity trucks will be converted to zero emission powertrains before 2030. However, most of the fleet will be supplied in battery-electric configuration from first arrival.

Four autonomous trucks are currently in validation at Fortescue’s testing site, with the first deployment of operational autonomous trucks expected in Q1 2025. All T 264 trucks are arriving autonomy-ready and will be progressively deployed to autonomous operations across Fortescue’s sites.

Validation of the full autonomous battery-electric solution is expected to be complete in early 2026.