AKO General Discussion, page-168

Too generous.

Not conservative enough.

I can't win!

I know it is generous, but this would surely have to be worst case.

I would imagine they would put 1.5m kms on the trucks at least.

If you want to make things really interesting, we could look at electric trucks...

I know the Tesla trucks, for example, recover energy from braking, and given the trip from mine to port is predominantly downhill, the trip could possibly result in the batteries being charged, or using very little energy. Given the uphill journey would be empty, the consumption should be fairly reasonable. I doubt the batteries could recharge on the way down and expend on the way up to the point where the energy consumption is "effectively zero".

But $320k in fuel per truck per year x 50 trucks is $16m/y in "savings" (knowing part or all would be spent elsewhere on infra etc).

Massive opex savings and strongly improved green credentials would make investing in AKO more appealing.

I also found these other interesting articles on possible "electric fleet" transport options.

https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/press-releases/2022/sep/volvo-trucks-tests-fossil-free-ore-transport-with-74-ton-electric-trucks.html

“Our goal is to achieve fossil-free transport by 2025,” says Lars Wallgren, head of logistics at Kaunis Iron. “We are working hard right now to solve our transport with electric trucks. If we succeed, we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 15,000 tons per year at the current production rate. We will start the next phase using 74-ton trucks in 2023, with the aim of moving up to 90 tons. This would be an unchanged gross combination weight compared to today's diesel-powered crew.”

and

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2365406-australias-minres-plans-iron-ore-trucking-at-rail-cost

"The project will be the first in Australia to use fully autonomous 320t capacity trucks to haul the ore 150km to port on a private haul road. This will significantly cut the haulage operating costs from around $28/t to less than $10/t, MinRes chief executive Chris Ellison said. It will make it cost competitive with rail, without the need for the massive upfront capital costs required to build rail lines."