Fortescue Metals Group has expanded its alliance with equipment-maker Liebherr, signing a deal worth up to $2.8bn (A$4.07bn) to co-develop and validate a zero-emission mining fleet.
This marks the single largest equipment deal ever for Liebherr Group and Fortescue’s single largest ever contract.
Initially, the companies entered an agreement in 2022 to develop green technology-based trucks to haul iron ore at Fortescue's mines.
The agreement has now been extended to increase the supply of mining fleet by Liebherr to 475 trucks from the earlier contract of 120 haul trucks.
Iron ore producer Fortescue plans to purchase around 360 autonomous battery-electric trucks, 55 electric excavators and 60 battery-powered dozers, replacing approximately two-thirds of its existing fleet.
These will be deployed at Fortescue's operations in Western Australia, with the goal of establishing a large-scale, zero-emission mining ecosystem by 2030.
Fortescue executive chairman Dr Andrew Forrest said: “This is an important next step in our 2030 Real Zero target – to eliminate emissions from our Australian iron ore operations by the end of the decade.
“The world needs Real Zero now – it simply cannot afford to wait. The green solutions we need are here today, and Fortescue Zero is supplying them and rolling them out across our massive mining operations.”
At the MINExpo 2024 event in Las Vegas, US, the two companies also unveiled the autonomous battery-electric T 264 truck, a product of their joint development efforts.
The T 264 truck is expected to begin on-site validation by the end of 2025, with the first batch of trucks already delivered to Fortescue's Eliwana mine in October 2023.
Although the initial 240-tonne capacity trucks will be converted to zero-emission powertrains by 2030, most of the fleet will arrive in a battery-electric configuration.
Currently, four autonomous trucks are undergoing validation at Fortescue's testing site, with the operational deployment of these trucks anticipated in the first quarter of 2025.
The validation process for the complete autonomous battery-electric solution is expected to conclude in early 2026.
