Rio Tinto will partner with China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to demonstrate battery-swap electric haul-truck technology at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

Battery swapping technology allows a battery electric vehicle to exchange a discharged battery pack quickly for a fully charged one, instead of recharging the vehicle at a static charging station.

The technology is already applied on haul trucks in mining operations across China, and this collaboration will enable Rio Tinto to demonstrate a complete battery electric truck and charging ecosystem at one of its operations.

The two-year project will demonstrate eight mining haul trucks (91 tonne payload), 13 batteries (800kWh), and a robotic battery swap and charging station in non-production activities in the aboveground operations at Oyu Tolgoi.

Rio Tinto operates about 700 haul trucks across its global operations, of which 100 are classified as small- or medium-class (100 – 200 tonne payload).

Technical experts from Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi have worked closely with SPIC and truck manufacturer Tonly to adjust equipment design to align with Rio Tinto electrical and truck safety requirements. The trucks will perform tailings dam rehabilitation work and topsoil movement and be operated and maintained by Oyu Tolgoi personnel.

Each battery is expected to last up to 8 hours, depending on the work performed, and the battery swap process takes around 7 minutes, enabling increased use of the equipment through minimal charging downtime. The first truck is ready to arrive at Oyu Tolgoi this year and the remaining seven trucks, along with the battery swap and charging infrastructure, will be in operation by mid-2025.

Rio Tinto is committed to reaching net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050 and believes Chinese innovation and technologies can play an important role in achieving this.