Val d’Or’s Lamaque Complex chooses Swedish firm Sandvik for trucks and loaders with battery swap capabilities
The Toro LH518iB battery electric loader / Sandvik
Val d’Or’s Lamaque Complex chooses Swedish firm Sandvik for trucks and loaders with battery swap capabilities
The Lamaque Mining Complex in Val d’Or, QC, has furthered its transition to electrification with a large order of heavy battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from the Swedish firm Sandvik late last year.
Lamaque, owned by Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold, ordered five 50-tonne Sandvik TH550B battery electric trucks and five 18-tonne Toro LH518iB battery electric loaders. The company said it’s part of a $40 million investment dedicated to electrifying its fleet.
Major GHG reductions
The Lamaque Complex, which produces gold and base metals, already took delivery of two Sandvik trucks in 2023 and 2024, and two trucks from this latest order were delivered in October. The remaining three trucks and five loaders will be delivered from mid-2026 to 2027.
“The first Sandvik battery-powered electric equipment at the Lamaque Mining Complex has proven its efficiency underground,” said Sylvain Lehoux, Vice President Canada and General Manager at Eldorado Gold Québec, in a press release. “Expanding the fleet will allow us to move more tonnes with less energy and less heat. We see electrification as a long-term lever for a safer, more efficient, and more productive mining operation.”
According to Lamaque, each piece of equipment reduces CO2 emissions by around 600 tonnes per year compared with diesel-powered equipment. And because the mine uses hydroelectricity from Hydro-Québec, the supplied power is also emissions-free.
As an added bonus, the vehicles are also expected to increase productivity by 20 per cent, with a full load ramp speed of 14 km/h compared with 8 km/h for diesel trucks.
Battery electric from the ground up
Sandvik says these trucks and loaders were both designed from the ground up to be battery electric, as opposed to a retrofit design. And a patented self-swapping battery system means less downtime, enabling the equipment to return to operation sooner than if plugged in for charging. The vehicles also feature data collection and analysis capabilities to help operators and maintenance crews monitor the equipment in real time.
“Sandvik BEVs have proven their capability underground at Lamaque, and this order confirms the strength of our battery-electric offering,” said Mats Eriksson, President of business area Mining at Sandvik in a press release. “We are proud to expand our partnership with Eldorado Gold and support their strategy to strengthen efficiency, safety and sustainability in their mining operations.”
