MacLean and Fortescue partner to help decarbonize mining - Equipment Journal

The Collingwood, Ontario-based MacLean Engineering has partnered with Fortescue to help rapidly electrify and decarbonize the surface mining industry.

As part of the partnership, MacLean will deliver a fleet of 30 GR8 electric graders to Fortescue’s mining operations in Western Australia.

The electric graders will be powered by a Fortescue Zero battery power system, making them one of the first battery electric graders for surface mining. The first EV grader is expected to be delivered in 2026, with the full battery electric fleet aiming to be operational in 2029. The partnership was announced at MinExpo in Las Vegas.

“Surface mining vehicle electrification represents the dawn of a new era at MacLean, but it’s one with a deep foundation in our past as a manufacturer of fit-for-purpose solutions for the mining industry,” said David Jacques, Vice President, Surface Mining Vehicles at MacLean. “We’re taking all the learnings from our GR5 Underground Grader commercialization and our years of experience in underground BEV design, manufacturing and site support, and putting it to good use in the context of surface mining electrification.”

At the launch event, MacLean CEO Kevin MacLean also announced the company’s commitment to Fortescue’s RealZero2040 initiative. MacLean pledged the company will now work toward achieving real zero emissions by 2040.

“Not long ago, industrial accidents and deaths were considered a standard part of our industry. Tailing ponds were considered a part of the normal cost. People changed that,” MacLean said.

“To anyone who thinks the carbon emissions are a required aspect of mining., Andrew Forrest (Executive Chairman of Fortescue) stood up and said, ‘no, they’re not.’ I’m here to support that statement and further say this is now our generational challenge. We will solve it.”

MacLean added the company plans to become more vocal about the need to decarbonize the mining industry.

“Going green is not a new thing for MacLean Engineering. It has been built into our DNA from the outset. However, I only recently came to realize that being public and vocal about it was also important,” he said.

“Following Fortescue’s lead, we are going to be much more public about our intentions.”

MacLean has nearly a decade of experience with its full-fleet electrification program with about 500,000 operating hours logged. The company has electrified 25 machines and sold about 100 electrified units.

Fortescue Metals CEO Dino Otranto said companies like MacLean will help it fulfill its mission to eliminate fossil fuel use across its Australian iron ore operations by 2030.

“We must partner with like-minded companies like MacLean, which has a proud reputation for designing and manufacturing innovative and high-quality products for underground mining. Importantly, they also share our vision for a mining industry, and a world, no longer reliant on fossil fuels,” Otranto said.

“In 2030, we believe Fortescue will be the go-to company for green metals, technology, energy and energy storage globally. When the world needs the ‘how’ to be answered, it will turn to Fortescue.”

During the announcement at MinExpo, Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford, Associate Minister of Mines in Ontario, praised MacLean Engineering as a success story in the province.

He added Ontario is the only jurisdiction in the world where critical minerals for electrification can be extracted, processed and manufactured.

“Ontario, over the last five or six years, is truly seeing a renaissance in investment, manufacturing and mining,” Crawford said.