Zijin Mining has invested in 50 Tonly DTE145 91 t class battery electric wide body mining trucks at its La Arena copper-gold mine in Peru, which are also equipped with battery swapping technology.
The La Arena mine has thus became the first mine in Peru to be equipped with all electric mining trucks, and this is also Zijin Mining’s first application case for BEV mining trucks worldwide. The DTE145 is the same model being tested by Rio Tinto at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
Peru has already seen a major delivery of greener mining trucks from Tonly – 62 units of 90 t class Shaanxi Tonly TLH135 hybrid wide body mining trucks are operating at the Shougang Hierro-owned Marcona iron ore mine.
The DTE145 new energy mining dump trucks were produced by Shaanxi Tonly Heavy Industry Co Ltd (Tonly) based in Xi’an and were jointly developed with SPIC Quiyan. Tonly is one of several large OEMs in China to have developed electric wide-body dump trucks.
The DTE145 features a rigid welded frame, a full hydro-pneumatic suspension system, A-frame guidance, a large-capacity battery-swapping system, a permanent magnet synchronous drive system, and a three-speed gearbox. The mean time between failures (MTBF) has been significantly increased to 800 hours.
Originally designed with a focus on rigidity, the frame undergoes multiple optimisation rounds through CAE simulations, with safety factors in critical areas exceeding three times. The use of key components on the mining vehicle chassis Tonly says ensures a design lifespan of no less than 10 years.
With pure electric drive, it achieves a minimum speed of 15 km/h on an 8% incline and a maximum speed of 50 km/h, complying with mining vehicle operational standards. The dual-cylinder lifting system minimises unloading time.
The mining truck’s 800 kWh battery system meets the demands of heavy loads, complex transport scenarios, and high endurance, even in environments with significant temperature variations. When powered by green energy, it can achieve near-zero emissions, bringing annual carbon reductions exceeding 250 t per vehicle.