Mining industry finds that apart from the environmental benefit of electric vehicles, there is an economic payoff as well
Using battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Northern Ontario mines is not just a nod toward being more environmentally tuned in, it is also something that makes good economic sense.
That was part of the message from Sudbury mining executive Peter Xavier who was a speaker last week at Sudbury’s first ever municipal conference to examine the importance of BEVs. Xavier, who is Vice President of Glencore’s Integrated Nickel Operations in Sudbury, said the company is finding it has to go to greater depths to find and recover new sources of nickel.
Glencore plans to use battery electric mining vehicles to recover that nickel, one of the key minerals required for industrial-sized vehicle batteries. “You know, we’ve been here for almost 100 years. So a lot of the near-surface deposits are long gone, and we’re getting deeper and deeper. And of course, the subject of this presentation is one of those projects, you know, getting down well below 2,000 meters.” Xavier said.
Xavier was talking about the extension of the old Craig Mine in Sudbury, which is known as the Onaping Depth project. Xavier said the plan for Onaping Depth is to have 100-per-cent BEVs for the underground vehicles.
For the rest of this article: https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/how-battery-electric-vehicles-will-help-make-mining-cheaper-5422564