Australian metals giant Fortescue says that its first batch of battery electric mining truck prototypes from Chinese construction machinery manufacturer XCMG are on their way to Western Australia for on-site testing and refinement.

Fortescue and XCMG have been working closely for the last few years, signing in late 2024 a $A600 million purchase order for over 100 pieces of zero emissions heavy mobile equipment including battery electric wheel loaders, wheel dozers, water carts, float prime movers, and graders.

This was followed almost a year later by a second purchase agreement, with XCMG to supply Fortescue with up to half of its future fleet of 240-tonne electric haul trucks – a deal which XCMG revealed was its largest ever export order for green mining machinery.

Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto was in China earlier this year to trial a range of the electric machinery and trucks the company was taking delivery of. This was followed a couple of months later by the announcement that the first big pieces of electric mining equipment had left China for Western Australia.

In a post this week on LinkedIn, Fortescue revealed that more battery electric prototypes are heading the way of its operations in WA, including a loader, dozer, grader, and water truck.

When they arrive at Fortescue’s Pilbara operations, the battery electric prototypes will begin on-site testing and refinement.

The company aims to eliminate fossil fuels at its iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara, by replacing its gas and diesel generation with more than 2 gigawatts of wind and solar and 4 gigawatt hours of battery storage, and all its diesel-fuelled haul trucks and other mining equipment with electric equivalents.

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