Mining

A US startup is looking to our closest satellite to fill a resources gap here on Earth. Interlune and partner Vermeer have revealed a full-scale excavator prototype that forms a key component of its lunar resource Harvester.

A fleet of 100 electric driverless coal-mining trucks has been put into operation in Mongolia, coordinated by AI running on a 5G-A network. The project is expected to grow, bringing new safety and efficiency to China's coal-mining industry.

Canadian decarbonization firm Exterra is tackling a critical environmental issue that's not talked about often: cleaning up the mineral waste left behind in asbestos mines after decades of extraction.

Stumbling on a giant gold nugget and never working again is something we’ve all daydreamed about, but how exactly do they form? A new experiment has found that earthquakes and electricity might be key ingredients.

We're a tad late to the news on this one, but we're no less excited to bring it to you heavy machinery nerds. Australia's Fortescue is teaming up with Liebherr Mining to develop an autonomous mining truck that will, in addition to driving itself, be the first of its kind worldwide to operate with zero emissions.

You know how EVs and practically anything else that runs on lithium batteries aren't really all that 'green' because producing lithium takes a huge toll on the planet?

The "world's first ultra-large full battery dump truck" is being put to work at a mine in Zambia. The prototype will undergo validation testing under operating loads to verify basic performance of the vehicle itself, and the support infrastructure.

In a move that mirrors an Anglo American and Williams Advanced Engineering project from 2020, General Motors has partnered with Japan's Komatsu to develop a fuel-cell power module for the latter's 930E electric-drive mining truck.

Australian mining company Fortescue has taken delivery of a 1.4-MWh prototype battery that's heading for a 240-tonne electric mining haul truck developed in partnership with Liebherr, and will begin testing later in the year.

Swedish government-owned mining company LKAB has reported the largest deposit of rare earth metals ever discovered in Europe – more than a million tonnes of rare earth oxides, which will be invaluable in the race toward decarbonization.

Heavy duty construction machinery producer Caterpillar has built and demonstrated an electric version of its monstrous 2,650-horsepower mining truck, aimed at helping the mining industry transition to more sustainable operations.

The seafloor is rich in valuable metals, but gathering them is disruptive to the environment. An international project has now tested a system called Apollo 2, which can vacuum up metal nodules without kicking up sediment.