Mining

The global focus on finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continued in 2023. The demand for the raw materials essential for building a zero-emission future and the equipment needed for extraction remained strong over the twelve-month period. Due to widespread geopolitical uncertainty, elevated inflation rates, labour shortages and high energy and production costs, 2023 was again a challenging year for mining.

Globally, there were mixed trends in terms of revenue in various regions. In Europe, there was an increase in revenue in EU countries as a whole, whereas a downturn in revenue was observed in non-EU countries. The overall decrease in revenue in North, Central and South America could be attributed to fluctuations in market conditions, but growth observed in Peru was encouraging in 2023. Increased revenue was particularly notable in the Africa and the Near and Middle East regions, with positive results especially in Ghana, Zambia and South Africa. Exponential growth was observed in Asia and Oceania, with encouraging results in Australia and Mongolia. Liebherr Mining’s forward order book for many major markets, except for Australia, slowed in 2023, in line with the comprehensive global challenges facing the industry. Despite this, a significant increase in volumes was achieved and Liebherr delivered record results in 2023.

Liebherr’s Mining product segment expanded its zero emission offerings this year. For the first time, Liebherr sold, and will install, a complete trolley system at a mine site in South America. The commissioning of this system is planned for 2024. Liebherr delivered the first electric excavators to an iron ore mine in Western Australia. Globally, multiple Liebherr machines were also repowered with Tier-4-compliant Liebherr engines.

In early 2023, the Autonomy Ready option for the T 264 haul truck was validated at Liebherr’s Mining Technology Development Centre in the USA. Liebherr’s Autonomous Haulage Solution project also reached an impressive milestone, with four T 264 trucks commissioned for validation at a customer’s site in October.

A growing number of Liebherr mining trucks and excavators are now powered with Liebherr’s D98 series of internal combustion engines. The first new excavators supplied with D98 engines were delivered to customers in Australia.

Liebherr and Fortescue’s joint development of zero emission haulage trucks reached an exciting milestone in 2023, with the first T 264 trucks of the major order for Fortescue delivered this year. While these trucks have been supplied with diesel internal combustion engines, these will be replaced by battery and fuel cell technology once validated, which is well on the way to being completed.

With large investments to aid increased production capacity, and a continuing focus on decarbonisation goals, Liebherr expects further growth in 2024 for its mining product segment.