MINING IN ONTARIO
BEVs
emerge from underground
MEDATech’s first battery-electric version of the Western Star 4900XD. CREDIT: MEDATECH
MEDATech develops battery version of the Western Star 4900XD for open pit mining By Alisha Hiyate
W
hen Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his government’s zero emission vehicle incentive would be extended to mining fleets at last year’s PDAC convention in Toronto, he made sure to mention two Ontario companies – MacLean Engineering and Kovatera – that supplied battery electric equipment to Newmont’s Borden mine in Ontario, the country’s first all-electric mine. But one name was missing from Trudeau’s made-in-Canada battery-electric roll call – MEDATech. “What he failed to say was both those companies are using our AltDrive technology,” says MEDATech’s president, Robert Rennie. MEDATech (which stands for mobile equipment design automation technology) developed its fully electric AltDrive powertrain technology more than a decade ago, and over the last five years, the Collingwood-based company has become a key part34 | CANADIAN
MINING JOURNAL
ner for OEMs looking to electrify. In addition to supplying them with its AltDrive technology, MEDATech has assisted other companies with the integration of battery power and drive train components, and provided sophisticated vehicle management software for BEVs. Although MEDATech has Robert Rennie. CREDIT: MEDATECH been on the cutting edge of recent mining equipment innovation in Ontario (including helping Torex Resources engineer and develop its proprietary Muckahi technology, the brainchild of former CEO Fred Stanford), as a behind-the-scenes provider www.canadianminingjournal.com
