VOLVO TRUCKS AND BOLIDEN TO DEPLOY UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC TRUCKS FOR MINING

The Swedish mining group Boliden is becoming one of the first in the world to use battery-electric trucks for heavy underground transport starting 2023. Electric trucks can deliver several advantages in mining environments – including no exhaust emissions, a safer workplace, and quieter working conditions.

The new cooperation agreement between Boliden and Volvo Trucks means that two heavy, electric Volvo trucks will be used in Boliden’s Kankberg mine, outside Skellefteå in northern Sweden. If all trucks in the mine were to be electric, the CO2 emissions from the mine could be reduced by more than 25 percent.

The first truck to serve the Kankberg mine, a Volvo FH Electric, will be used to transport rock bolts and other equipment down into the mine and will be put into service in 2023. Based on the experience with the first truck, another Volvo FH Electric will later be put into operation and used for underground transport of rock and ore.

Volvo Trucks offers the industry's widest range of electric trucks, with six electric truck models in series production, and is the market leader in heavy electric trucks in Europe and the USA. The company's electric trucks can cover many different transport needs, ranging from urban distribution and refuse disposal to regional transport and construction traffic. Volvo's goal is that 50% of its new trucks sold in 2030 should be electric.