Abstract
BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) can unlock huge ventilation savings, energy savings, and increased productivity for underground mines, but only if the mines are designed with their strengths and weaknesses in mind. Attempting to use them on standard long mucking routes, on uphill loaded hauls, and in similar situations can easily wipe out any savings you would otherwise have seen. In this talk, I will introduce foundational principles of underground mine design that allow any underground mine to save as much money as possible with BEVs, centered around a principle of maximizing energy efficiency in material flow. We will apply these lessons immediately in the session, as I walk you through modifying the design of an example greenfield underground project into one optimized for BEV use. We will then review the pros, cons, and difficulties of making these changes, assuming a fully BEV fleet.