Sandvik grows Mongolian fleet

Sandvik Mining has been contracted to supply 17 loaders and two trucks to Rio Tinto’s (ASX: Rio) Oyu Tolgoi copper-mine in the South Gobi Desert.

The underground equipment supply includes eight Toro LH410 loaders, seven Toro LH515i loaders, two Toro LH517i loaders and two Toro TH551i trucks. Deliveries are expected to begin in October 2025 and continue through to late next year.

Underground operations at the site, jointly owned by Rio (66%) and the Mongolia Government (34%), began in early 2023 and have continued to ramp up.

Open pit mining began at Oyu Tolgoi in 2011 and the copper concentrator, the largest industrial complex ever built in Mongolia, began processing mined ore into copper concentrate in 2013.

The project is set to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine as open pit and underground block cave operations gain momentum. Production from the site is on track to deliver an average of about 500,000t of copper from 2028 to 2036.

Oyu Tolgoi underground operations manager Steffan Herselman says the underground development at the site plays a vital role in global copper supply towards greater decarbonisation and electrification.

“Though continued positive results with our ongoing trials of Sandvik battery-electric vehicles are taking place, until we are operationally ready and have the required infrastructure to support a BEV fleet, the need to invest in proven, conventional underground load and haul technology is required for the ramp up,” he said.