Epiroc wins its largest contract ever, for autonomous and electric-powered mining equipment
Epiroc AB has announced that it has won a significant contract to deliver a major fleet of fully autonomous and electric surface mining equipment to Fortescue in Australia.
The equipment order contract is valued at $350 million over five years. A first portion of the contract is expected to be booked in the second quarter of 2025.
Fortescue, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, has ordered 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 at the company’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 kilometers away. The machines will eliminate around 35 million litres of diesel consumption annually, according to Fortescue.
Epiroc’s president and CEO Helena Hedblom and Fortescue Metals’ CEO Dino Otranto held a contract signing ceremony at Fortescue’s headquarters in Perth.
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“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,” Hedblom says.
“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.”
Otranto adds: “We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Epiroc to bring cutting-edge electric mining equipment into our operations. The deployment of this new fleet of electric drills will immediately start reducing our carbon footprint, cutting over 90,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually once the fleet is operational.
“To decarbonise, 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.”