Epiroc wins largest order in history with A$350M contract from Fortescue

Epiroc AB has won its largest order in company history with a A$350 million ($222m) contract to deliver a major fleet of fully autonomous and electric surface mining equipment to Australia’s Fortescue over five years.

Included in the order is a fleet of Epiroc blasthole drill rigs: the cable-electric Pit Viper 271 E and the battery-electric SmartROC D65 BE.

The equipment will be used across Fortescue’s iron ore mines in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. The driver-less machines will eventually be operated fully autonomously, overseen from Fortescue’s Integrated Operations Centre in Perth more than 1,500 km away.

According to Fortescue, these machines are expected to eliminate around 35 million litres of diesel consumption annually. The group is focused on accelerating the commercial decarbonization of its commercial operations, with plans to achieve “real zero” emissions by 2030.

“Fortescue is on the forefront of the mining industry in reducing emissions from operations, and in using automation to strengthen safety and productivity, and we are proud to support them on this important effort,” Epiroc CEO Helena Hedblom said in a press release.

“Not only is this the largest contract we have ever received, but it is also a major step forward for our electric-powered surface equipment. We look forward to contributing to Fortescue’s continued success now and in the future.”

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Epiroc to bring cutting-edge electric mining equipment into our operations,” Fortescue Metals’ CEO Dino Otranto said. “The deployment of this new fleet of electric drills will immediately start reducing our carbon footprint, cutting over 90,000 tonnes of CO? emissions annually once the fleet is operational.”

“To decarbonize, we’re aiming to swap out around 800 pieces of heavy mining equipment with zero emissions alternatives by the end of the decade, as well as deploy 2-3GW of renewable energy and battery storage across the Pilbara,” Otranto added.