Lundin Mining says its 70%-owned Caserones operation in Chile has become the first active mine site in the world to operate an ultra-class haul truck with a hybrid-electric system.

The First Mode retrofit kit, delivered by Cummins, has been fitted on a Komatsu 930E truck (number 330) at Caserones.

Cummins has previously stated that the First Mode retrofit kit delivers immediate fuel savings and reduces emissions by up to 25% with minimal changes to an existing ultra-class electric drive haul truck and requires no additional infrastructure.

It cited extensive pilot opportunities last year, adding that scaled production could start in 2027 and beyond.

Cummins, which acquired First Mode in 2025, also conducted a first-fit hybrid powertrain pilot, which started in 2024 with NHL. Central to this project was the hybrid NHL NTH260, a 220 t payload mining truck, which was deployed for field testing at the Baiyun Iron Mine of Baogang Group in China during March 2024, with initial tuning testing taking place over May and June. This was followed by operation tests 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, which ran from July to the end of November. Testing period data showed the benefits of using hybrids, Cummins said. The truck utilised hybrid capabilities to operate for over 2,500 hours, with a 15-20% reduction in fuel consumption and, therefore, carbon emissions achieved. The hybrid system proved highly reliable, paving the way for testing over 24-hour operation, 7 days a week, which began in December 2024. Installing hybrid capabilities to this test truck enabled a downsizing of the engine, from the 2,500 HP QSK60 to the current 2,000 HP two-stage Cummins QSK50.

Caserones stated on the latest news: “The pilot allows for an immediate reduction in diesel consumption and it is estimated that savings can reach up to 30% on average. Direct emissions, one of the main sources of mining’s carbon footprint, are also immediately reduced.”

Caserones is a large open pit copper-molybdenum mine with a low ore to waste strip ratio. Mining is performed using a conventional truck and shovel fleet. There are five mining phases remaining in the life-of-mine plan, phases 5-10. The phase designs are based on the optimised pit shells with the highest value material mined in the earlier phases and lower-grade higher strip ratio material mined in later phases.

The processing facilities have been in commercial operation since 2014 and have historically produced approximately 100,000-120,000 t of copper in concentrate, 1,700-2,500 t of molybdenum in concentrate and approximately 25,000 t of copper cathodes per year. The grinding-flotation plant has a stated design capacity of 4,700 t/h operated (105,000 t/d based on 93% availability) though has historically treated 3,800-4,000 t/h of operation. The SX-EW plant has a nominal capacity of 34,500 t/y.

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