Rio Tinto Partners With SPIC To Trial Battery Swap Technology At Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine

(RTTNews) - Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc (RTNTF, RIO, RIO.L, RTPPF) announced a partnership with China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to showcase battery swap electric haul truck technology at its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

Battery swapping technology enables battery-electric vehicles to quickly exchange a depleted battery for a fully charged one, eliminating the need for lengthy recharging at static stations.

Already in use on haul trucks across mining operations in China, this collaboration will allow Rio Tinto to demonstrate a fully integrated battery-electric truck and charging ecosystem at one of its major sites.

The two-year project will feature eight haul trucks with a 91-tonne payload, 13 batteries with a combined capacity of 800 kWh, and a robotic battery swap and charging station. These will be used for non-production activities at Oyu Tolgoi's aboveground operations.

Rio Tinto currently operates around 700 haul trucks globally, with 100 of these in the small to medium class (100-200 tonne payload).