At the end of December 2024, a fleet of 62 units of 90 t class Shaanxi Tonly Heavy Industries TLH135 hybrid wide body mining trucks left China’s Zhangjiagang Port bound for Chancay Port in Peru and onwards to the Shougang Hierro-owned Marcona iron ore mine, marking an important development in the decarbonisation journey of Peru’s mining sector.
The trucks have been supplied via ZAMine Peru, which in December 2023 signed an Authorised Distribution agreement with Tonly Heavy Industries for Peru and began marketing of Tonly off road dump trucks from 20 to 90 t payload in the country – ZAMine will also be responsible for servicing and supporting the fleet. ZAMine Peru is a subsidiary of the Marubeni Corporation, and is better known as the authorised distributor of Hitachi Construction Machinery hydraulic shovels and diesel electric mining trucks in Peru.
Tonly said the deal was important as a major entrance for its mining equipment into the South American market, and is again indicative of the increasing demand for wide body trucks in mining as an alternative to rigid trucks for certain operations. They are larger, more powerful and much more robust versions of tipper trucks but come at a much lower cost than rigid trucks and are also simpler and cheaper to maintain.
Tonly states: “In the South American market, users have extremely strict requirements for product quality and performance, and this is also the first time that the mining area has purchased a large number of Chinese off-road vehicles. After many comparisons in the early stage, the customer chose the TLH135 off-road wide-body self-unloading truck that has shown high reliability and high adaptability in various types of mines.”
The TLH135 is equipped with a core electric drive system consisting of dual 620kW motors and a multi-gear AMT gearbox, together with a 400 kW generator and battery system, enabling the vehicle to accelerate quickly, and giving it a better climbing ability. The design was developed together with engine technology company Yuchai, and is known as the Yuchai K16-400kW intelligent hybrid system.
This works together with a Yuchai Mengqing YCK16 engine and Yuchai Xinlan high-efficiency intelligent range extender. Compared to similar diesel-only mining vehicles, Yuchai says the operating efficiency of the truck has increased by 10%-15%, while energy consumption has been reduced by 10%-15%. Tonly and Yuchai have now collaborated on several models, including the hybrid TLH135 and the all battery electric DTH145, which is the battery swapping technnology model that Tonly has supplied together with SPIC Qiyuan to operate at Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi surface copper operations.
In terms of safety, conventional mechanical braking is combined with electric feedback braking to ensure driving safety. Full hydraulic steering plus an emergency steering system Tonly says ensure the reliability of the steering system, while the vehicle is also automation ready with a drive by wire control system.
