Supporting Torex Gold’s electric vision at Media Luna

The Media Luna mine forms part of Torex Gold’s Morelos Property in Mexico’s Guerrero Gold Belt, about 180 kilometers southwest of Mexico City. It’s a world-class asset and one of the largest underground mining operations in the country. It also has a promising future, with an operating life expected to exceed 10 years.

“A 7,500 metric tons-per-day longhole stoping operation is a sizable underground mine for any organization, but it's got vast potential to grow even further,” said Dave Stefanuto, Executive Vice President of Projects and Technical Services at Torex Gold. “We’ve really invested in Media Luna as a long-term, sustainable operation.”

That long-term thinking has shaped every major decision, including a mine design that has supported a fleet of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) from the outset.

Sustainability matters at the Media Luna mine. Torex has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2030 and electrification is central to that plan. Critically, however, the economics worked, too: “Our return-on-investment calculations and trade-offs in comparing BEVs to a diesel production fleet showed us that battery electric was the way to go,” Stefanuto explained. “The benefits of a BEV fleet far outweighed the diesel fleet.”

Sandvik powers the production fleet

In 2023, Torex selected Sandvik to supply a 15-unit BEV fleet for primary production at Media Luna, including 11 Toro® LH518iB battery-electric loaders and four DD422iE twin-boom battery-electric jumbos. It was Sandvik's largest BEV order in Latin America at the time.

A key factor in choosing Toro® LH518iB was its patented AutoSwap and AutoConnect technology. Battery changes take just a few minutes and can be completed without the operator leaving the vehicle.

Gertjan Bekkers, former Vice President of Mines Technical Services at Torex, explained: “The AutoSwap and AutoConnect technology is really designed with the miner in mind, where the battery can be dropped off and a new battery picked up from the safety and comfort of the operator cabin.”

Proving electric mining works

Toro® LH518iB loaders muck from stopes across six main underground zones and discharge into ore passes, with ore traveling via conveyor through a seven-kilometer tunnel to the processing plant at El Limón Guajes. Material handling is designed around gravity flow, allowing the loaders to work on a single level without long ramp travel, preserving battery charge and maximizing uptime.

Now in operation, Media Luna has demonstrated performance beyond expectations. “The battery swapping technology was the best decision we could have made,” said Marco Bocanegra, Maintenance Superintendent at Media Luna. His colleague and Media Luna’s Operational Readiness Leader, Manuel Flores, agreed, noting that battery cycle run time has also “exceeded expectations, which has made the whole team happy.”

The benefits of BEVs also extend to the health and safety of the workforce. Electric vehicles produce less noise, no diesel particulate matter, less vibration, and significantly less heat than conventional diesel machines — all of which reduce the ventilation burden underground.

"We see these factors contributing to a much healthier workplace and a much more productive workforce," said Stefanuto.

The future beckons at Media Luna

With Toro® LH518iB supplied automation-ready, Media Luna is already planning its next move. According to Bekkers, the team is "looking for opportunities to extend the capacity of the LH518iBs with AutoMine®, and start using them operated remotely, and eventually, autonomously."

That ambition runs through the whole site team. “The vision we have in the mine is to continue with technological innovation; to keep pushing with battery-powered equipment, to keep pushing with telemetry, and to continue advancing, even with autonomously operated equipment,” echoed Flores.

Underpinning all of it is the partnership with Sandvik. “The relationship with Sandvik is both technically and commercially very solid,” concluded Bocanegra. “It's a win-win.”