Byrnecut to roll out Sandvik BEVs in South Australia

Byrnecut will take delivery of the loaders in 2023 and 2024 for use at the Prominent Hill copper, gold and silver mine and the Carrapateena copper and gold mine. Byrnecut has been engaged by OZ Minerals to provide underground mining services at the mines and it currently has a fleet of Sandvik LH621i loaders with automation operating on both sites.

“We’re excited to be leading the way with battery-electric vehicles in Australia by putting these six Sandvik loaders into service over the next two years,” said Max Woods, Asset Manager for Byrnecut. “Not only will the use of electric vehicles significantly improve the working environment underground, but it will also help our customers to work toward their emissions reduction goals – something that is increasingly important in the mining sector.”

Woods said the purchase of the battery-electric loaders is part of Byrnecut’s commitment to exploring and embracing new technologies that make its operations safer, more efficient and more sustainable.

“Eliminating emissions from loaders from the underground environment helps us create a better workplace, as does AutoMine® technology that enables operators to work from comfortable remote control-rooms,” he said.

Another major benefit to Byrnecut is the anticipated increased performance the new loaders could provide. The company worked closely with Sandvik prior to purchase to model various application scenarios, including both manual and automated operation.

“We’re expecting the loaders to provide greater throughput in both manual and automated modes while delivering a similar total cost of ownership per tonne delivered to their predecessors,” Woods said, adding that the new Sandvik loaders are also expected to bring major cost savings across their entire lifecycles. They are likely to require fewer replacement parts than their predecessors, and servicing is also simpler and more efficient.