KGHM's Victoria Project Sets Battery-Electric Benchmark in Sudbury Basin
KGHM International is engineering its Victoria project in the Sudbury Basin around a fully battery-electric fleet and automated material handling, International Mining reports after speaking with project leadership. The greenfield asset is planned as a 3,500 t/d copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold and silver operation producing roughly 1.2 Mt/y of mill feed, with a 14-year mine life based on the current resource. The mine will reach just below 2,000 m below surface via twin shafts: a 6.7-m diameter ventilation shaft currently being sunk by DMC Mining under an advanced exploration program running through mid-2028, and a 7.6-m diameter production shaft to follow a final investment decision. Technical Services and Commercial Manager Serge Tousignant said studies show battery-electric vehicles cut required ventilation volume and cooling load substantially versus diesel, allowing the design to rely on a surface-based ventilation system rather than pushing cooled air underground. KGHM ZANAM S.A., the equipment arm of KGHM Polska Miedลบ, has supplied specs for an in-development 14-t payload battery-electric loader. The automation plan covers LHD haulage from stopes to ore passes, rehandling systems, rock breakers and surface-controlled drills and loaders in high-risk zones, tied together by a hybrid LTE/Wi-Fi network.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Underground electrical and communications contractors should track KGHMโs hybrid LTE/Wi-Fi network buildout as a reference spec for bidding connectivity packages on future battery-electric retrofits in Sudbury and other deep hard-rock operations.
- Ventilation and cooling subcontractors can use Victoriaโs surface-based ventilation design, driven by BEV heat-load reductions at nearly 2,000 m depth, as a benchmark when pricing ventilation-on-demand systems for electrification projects.
- Shaft-sinking and exploration drilling crews have a live comparable in DMC Miningโs 6.7-m ventilation shaft program, running through mid-2028, for scoping timelines and crew sizing on similar deep shaft contracts before Victoriaโs production shaft goes to bid post-FID.
