Eldorado Gold’s strengthens Lamaque’s electrified underground load-and-haul ops with new Sandvik BEVs
Eldorado Gold, an intermediate gold and base metals producer, has selected Sandvik to supply 10 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), plus 10 charging systems, for its Lamaque Complex in Val-d’Or, Québec.
The orders include five Sandvik TH550B trucks and five Toro® LH518iB loaders. The first two 50-t trucks were delivered in October, with the remaining three trucks and five 18-t loaders to be delivered from mid-2026 into 2027.
The new equipment will strengthen Lamaque’s transition towards an electrified underground load-and-haul operation. The investment builds on the performance of the first two Sandvik battery-electric trucks delivered to the mine in 2023 and 2024, and advances Eldorado Gold’s strategy to improve the site’s environmental performance, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and optimise productivity and underground logistics.
“The first Sandvik BEVs at Lamaque have proven their capability underground, and expanding the fleet lets us move more tonnes with less energy and heat,” Sylvain Lehoux, Vice President, Canada at Eldorado Gold Québec, said. “We see electrification as a long-term enabler of safer, more efficient and more productive mining.”
The Sandvik TH550B and Toro LH518iB are both designed from the ground up around their battery systems and electric drivelines to be purpose-built BEVs, Sandvik says. The truck and loader both feature Sandvik’s patented self-swapping battery system, including the AutoSwap and AutoConnect functions, improving equipment availability and safety.
Sandvik claims it offers the industry’s fastest BEV ‘pit stop’, enabling its equipment to return to operation significantly sooner than ‘fast charge’ mining BEVs. Sandvik TH550B and the automation-ready Toro LH518iB also feature sophisticated data collection and analysis capabilities, enabling operators and maintenance personnel to monitor and optimise equipment performance in real time.
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