Boliden is one of the premier European miners, being the continent’s largest copper and nickel miner plus also ranking globally when it comes to zinc production. But it is more than that – it is a first mover and innovator in mining technology.
This includes electrification, and Boliden is also a Miner Partner sponsor for forthcoming conference, The Electric Mine 2026, with the leading global mine electrification event this time being held May 5-7 in Lisbon, Portugal. IM Editorial Director Paul Moore recently caught up with Peter Wallin, Program Manager for Boliden’s electrification program, in Sweden, to better understand its current green mining experience and credentials, which cut across real projects and real experience in surface and underground trolley, plus surface and underground battery. This is unique in the industry – so while Boliden may not be among the biggest mining companies in the world, it is certainly one of the most forward thinking.
Peter Wallin, Manager Boliden Mines Electrification Program
The miner has committed to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 42% by 2030, using 2021 as the base year. But even today its CO2 emissions are far below the global average for major base metals miners – 1.5 of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of copper compared to the industry average of 4.1. It is helped also by the fact that Sweden and Finland where most of its major mines are located already have a very green energy mix – Sweden in particular has a very low grid carbon intensity, with an average of about 18 gCO₂eq/kWh thanks to its hydro, wind and nuclear mix.It has shown itself to be at the front of the deployment queue in mining innovation and technology on multiple occasions – so where does this approach come from? Wallin: “I think it is firstly linked to the mining culture within Boliden, and beyond that in Sweden and Scandinavia. Our main operations are relatively close to the production facilities of some of the biggest OEMs like Sandvik, Volvo, Scania and Epiroc; plus over many years our mining industry has been built up and continues to be successful thanks to collaborative efforts with these companies and others. We understand that you need to collaborate to succeed. From their side, they have to come up with solutions that work for the global mining market; from our side it means we often get first access to the latest innovations by allowing our mines to be used as test beds. There is a big difference between an OEM test mine and a real operational mine as a testing site.”
IM Editorial Director Paul Moore with the Komatsu PADT at Boliden Aitik
It is something of a give and take. Of course these new solutions need to be profitable – but in the early stages of development it also involves extra cost and extra commitment from both sides – the miner and supplier – but ultimately for a proven business case. “Within Boliden, first to be first new technology access ultimately means we can mine better, more safely, more sustainably and with increased productivity. Suppliers to us are partners and we want them to succeed with new solutions globally as well – we don’t just want them for ourselves.”
A good example of Boliden’s first mover culture is it being arguably the most significant deployer of trolley assist infrastructure in recent years – that is in the second wave of trolley in mining following the first main phase in the 1980s – primarily in Africa. It has come with mixed success. At Aitik, trolley was put in back in 2018 with installation on the waste rock ramp with the plan at one point to use all 14 313 t class Caterpillar 795 trucks on it. It was initially 700 m with one substation which was fairly straightforward without any major curves and a wide ramp width – it worked really well but a later 3 km extension went down into the pit itself including additional substations. At this point some problems arose – the trolley ramp was now close to some blasting areas, so there were a lot of narrower ramp sections which made operations more difficult. There were also some issues with this narrower road as trolley truck operators not connecting correctly to the line with the pantograph which in some cases caused damage.
Trolley operations were also disrupted by a rockfall in the haul road requiring a section of the extension to be removed – initially it was going to be rebuilt but then the mine plans changed and it was decided that the whole extension would be taken out, and there are now no immediate plans to reinstate it.
Over at Kevitsa in Finland, a 630 m trolley system was commissioned in 2022 with one ABB substation feeding the system from the middle – and continues to work well with all material transport loads, ore and waste, using it – the 13 Komatsu 830E trucks converted with trolley kits are now running 250 passes a day on the line, saving 18 litres of fuel every time – which works out as almost 1.5 million litres saved every year. Plus, the maintenance cost around the trolley infrastructure has proven to be fairly low, with high availability, though obviously the initial investment cost was quite high. Originally the medium term plan was for the 630 m to be extended to 1.7 km though a decision on this has not yet been made.
Both trolley operations saw trucks operating at about 27 km/h uphill compared to 15 km/h if they were off the line. But operational constraints can remove this advantage, as was the case ultimately at Aitik. The 700 m initial trolley section that is still there, however, is still proving useful to be able to test the Komatsu Power Agnostic Dump Truck (PADT) under trolley – based on the 930E platform – Boliden was the first mining company in the world to get this truck – quite significant given that it was developed and constructed in the USA.
Overall, Boliden has still not settled on whether trolley will be a long-term solution for its route to net zero emissions. Today the TCO remains higher than for standard diesel operations at current diesel prices though this could change if diesel costs rise further.
“Yes, trolley in combination with diesel trucks at Kevitsa is working for us – whether it works with battery trucks remains to be seen – the baseline is that we don’t want to be restricted to only being able to use trolley and in the same way for the trucks only to be viable with downsized batteries. But we have the first PADT and will soon also be installing a battery pack in it, with the expectation being that this battery trolley configuration will be running by end 2026 – so we will certainly be the first to get operational experience with it. Our very close cooperation with Komatsu is ongoing and we look forward to working with them on it. Clearly continued reduction in battery pack costs over time will add to the TCO and business case for this.”
Wallin also made the point that the Chinese OEMs are starting to come into the market with a lot of smaller tonnage class full battery electric wide body trucks; and that it also remains to be seen how productive they could be versus larger rigids, without having to deploy trolley.
And Boliden has already dipped a toe in the water by deploying XCMG battery electric trucks at Aitik since April 2025 for tailings handling. It is a similar set up to what LKAB is doing at Svappavaara as the trucks are being operated by contractor – in this case GE Maskintjanst. The two XDR80TE trucks have a 72 t payload and Wallin says overall first impressions have been good with deviations on a par with what is usual for a new truck. They are using a Qingdao Hardhitter Electric plug in charger.
An XCMG XDR80TE truck at Boliden Aitik
The aim is to operate them up to 20 hours a day. Wallin: “The project is allowing both us and the contractor to see if these types of electric trucks would be viable for us to use on a larger scale. While we carry out owner operator mining, most of our tailings work and infrastructure work uses contractors – so reducing their emissions is a big focus for us as well.” Going forward Boliden is looking at including all electric fleet requirements for contract tenders.
On their duty cycle: “They are taking tailings from the old waste rock dump to the tailings storage facility, a distance on average of about 10 km. It is part of a major new project at Aitik to bring the TSF in line with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) which requires some raising of the dam walls. Moving this waste material is also opening up new ore and therefore mining areas.”
The wide body trucks are obviously much lower initial cost than large rigid trucks on a direct tonnage comparison, plus very short lead times – from order to delivery for these Boliden units was only three months.
Boliden is also looking at energy infrastructure in tandem with battery trucks, again to not be restricted only to dynamic charging. The ABB Mobile Robot ACD is a great example of future in-pit charging options. It has been under test at Aitik and uses a robotic arm backed up with cameras and motion sensors – by November 2025 more than 12,000 connections had been made, with a high success rate.
This 6 MW system could ultimately be used as a stationary charging solution for the battery PADT. It is compatible with a megawatt charging system/ruggedised megawatt charging system (MCS/R-MCS) and quick charging connector (QCC) pin types, and automates the connection and charging process. The Robot ACD enables personnel to stay in the safety of the haulage truck cabin, while the high-power charging process takes place; but is also equally applicable to be used with fully autonomous trucks then those are electrified. Again, Aitik was first minesite globally to trial the technology.
What about underground trolley? Ravliden, effectively a greenfield extension to Boliden’s Kristineberg mine in Sweden, is arguably one of the world’s most electrified mines to date plus like the surface mines uses green hydropower – the 5 km trolley project under final commissioning combines an innovative battery trolley system using four Epiroc battery-electric trolley trucks (Minetruck MT42 SG Trolley) combined with three battery-electric Scooptram ST18 SG loaders and two battery-electric Minetruck MT42 SG trucks in the stoping area. The fleet also includes two electric Boomer E20 SG drill jumbos and two Boltec E10 SG electric bolters.
Battery-electric Epiroc Minetruck MT42 Trolley running at Ravliden in September 2025
The only green fleet exceptions initially will be the utility machines but the plan is that Boliden will acquire these in electric versions as well. And as Boliden’s first attempt at electrifying an entire underground mine it will also help answers questions on how diesel free operation affects mine planning, ventilation and the electric grid. The 5 km line has three ABB substations and is divided into six sections which includes redundancy and allows the line to stay operational even if there is a problem with one of them. The truck speeds are increased from 9 km/h for non-trolley operation to 13 km/h – along with never having to charge due to charging on the uphill haul as well as regenerative charging downhill, with the productivity upside about 20-30% versus diesel.
Back to surface – how does Wallin see the future for its main owner operator surface fleet? “Definitely we are looking at downsizing the truck payload class as one option – whether that is moving to 100 ton class, 220 ton class or something else. Like some other big miners we are evaluating possibilities and have some concepts for future load and haul we are looking at. But at the same time in the medium term, we have also made some major investments in terms of existing infrastructure and the haul road widths to accommodate the ultraclass trucks we are using currently plus we need to investigate if this would change our standard 15 metre bench heights.”
He adds: “And of course we have seen a lot of success with our 930E-5 fleet in terms of autonomy as well with 17 of them now running automated. And we firmly believe electrification will only work with automation. That said, it is much easier to fully electrify smaller trucks in terms of battery capacity, battery size, and charge time – and if we are already experienced with AHS then we don’t face an increase in the number of operators we need to use. Also, smaller trucks mean you can look more at mass produced industrial batteries instead of large customised packs, which means huge cost reductions there as well. Of course, our traditional suppliers of large rigid trucks are now looking at bringing smaller class trucks options into mining as well – so it is not only involving new suppliers.”
In addition, smaller trucks means a different loading tool approach – and Boliden does not want to lose the investments it has made there such as the 45-60 m3 bucket shovels in Aitik – options might include the MMD Surge Loader or in-pit crushers. And it could look at using smaller trucks for specific projects such as satellite pits – in the same way that it is using the XCMG trucks for waste haulage today.
Boliden is also highly experienced with more traditional on-road trucks – at Kankberg underground it has been using a battery Volvo truck for lighter utility duties such as transport of bolts and other consumables, with very positive results – a new version is in the works for ore duties. They benefit from normally having a full load downhill, with just some scrap material being hauled on the return trip. They are used during the day shift then charged during the night.
Transport company Renfors Åkeri transports ore and concentrate for Boliden using Scania on-road trucks
Boliden has also been working closely with Scania on the surface via transport company Renfors Åkeri for on-road transport of concentrate and ore using battery trucks with a total weight of 74 t including load and trailer. This project has been evolving to reflect technology advances – today’s Scania trucks have double the capacity and more than twice the charging power of the first versions which began operation in 2022.
Finally, another underground project at Garpenberg will involve two Scania battery trucks for hauling waste rock with delivery estimated in Q2 2026 and using 750 kW MCS charging – this will bring more insight into TCO for these trucks when deployed for waste haulage – certainly modelling has shown a potentially positive TCO case. The trucks have a new leaf suspension system replacing the previous air suspension, allowing more room for the required battery pack size and accommodating increased overall weight. Garpenberg already uses Scania 30 t and 40 t payload class diesel trucks underground – these electric versions will replace two of the 30 t units. In addition, in Garpenberg’s primary fleet, trials continue with a Sandvik LH518iB – it was the first mine in Europe to have the machine.
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