Global Underground Mining Vehicles Market is segmented By Mining Operations (Drilling, Loading, Transporting, Other operations), By Type of Ore Body (Coal mining, Metal mining, Other), By Propulsion (Diesel Operated, Electrical Operated), and By Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) – Share, Size, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2024-2031
Report Overview
The Global Underground Mining Vehicles Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period (2024-2031).
Underground mining vehicles are used worldwide to perform various mining operations such as drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, and dumping to extract the ore bodies economically and utilize heavy earth moving types of machinery such as high capacity dumpers, drilling machines, laud haul dumpers, and various other high-tech vehicles. There are numerous underground mining methods based on the ore body's geological factors, which require a versatile range of vehicles. The selection of underground mining techniques are essentially based on the deposit's spatial/geological setting, estimated operational/capital costs and production rates, availability of labour and materials/equipment, and environmental considerations.
Mining vehicles have been evolving industry; there are many recent innovations to extract ore bodies efficiently. At the starting of the era, mining used to be a tedious, time-consuming, and dangerous task. With the rapid advancement in mining machines today, ore bodies can be extracted with a more significant recovery rate and higher profit margins. Modern mining is shifted towards automatic operated and remotely operated vehicles like excavators and bulldozers controlled with a handheld remote control, which reduces the chances of error and is less time-consuming, and needs less human involvement. BHP has deployed several autonomous mining vehicles as part of their Next Generation Mining program, including autonomous drills and autonomous trucks in the Pilbara region.
Market Summary
| Metrics | Details |
| CAGR | 3% |
| Size Available for Years | 2022-2031 |
| Forecast Period | 2024-2031 |
| Data Availability | Value (USD ) |
| Segments Covered | Mining Operations, Type of Ore Body, Propulsion, and Region |
| Regions Covered | North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa |
| Fastest Growing Region | Asia-Pacific |
| Largest Market Share | Asia-Pacific |
| Report Insights Covered | Competitive Landscape Analysis, Company Profile Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Demand, Recent Developments, Mergers and Acquisitions, New Product Launches, Growth Strategies, Revenue Analysis, Porter’s Analysis, Pricing Analysis, Regulatory Analysis, Supply-Chain Analysis, and other key Insights. |
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Market Dynamics
The global underground mining vehicles market growth is driven by the emerging markets in automated mining machines. Moreover, the rising demand for electrically operated vehicles worldwide is expected to drive the market.
The introduction of automated underground mining machines is expected to drive market growth.
The market is lead by the increasing demand for modern technologies in the mining sector. The mining vehicle industry is shifting towards automation with various advantages of mining equipment automation technologies: improved safety, better fuel efficiency, increased productivity, reduced unscheduled maintenance, enhanced working conditions, better vehicle utilization, and reduced driver fatigue and attrition. Like, Rio Tinto started with the initiative mine of the Future in 2008. From a control centre in Perth, employees operate autonomous mining equipment in Australia's remote but mineral-rich Pilbara region as autonomous mining vehicles reduce the mining giant's footprint while improving productivity and vehicle utilization. As of June 2014, Rio Tinto's autonomous mining fleet reached 200 million tonnes hauled.
The increased application of AI and ML technologies is anticipated to boost the underground mining vehicle market growth. Autonomous Haul Trucks (AHTs) from Komatsu predicted that through FY2020, they would have more than 350 autonomous trucks hauling copper, iron, coal, and oil sands at over 15 sites across three continents. A full truck fleet can be monitored by a single controller, located thousands of kilometres away, and can be managed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The approach delivers significant safety, productivity, reliability, performance, and operational benefits to mine fleet owners. According to International Vehicle Technology (IVT) reports, the Australian mine used 50 AHTs and calculated the productivity benefits of 75 hours per truck per year. It resulted in an extra 1.5 million tons hauled for top-line growth of 50M Euros.
Shifting to electrically operated vehicles in underground mining machines is expected to drive market growth.
The burning of diesel produces various objectable fumes by vehicles, one of the leading causes of greenhouse gases responsible for human-induced climate change. Currently, various commercial vehicle industries are adopting new electric-based designs to release into the growing market. According to Global Road Technology International Holdings Limited (GRT) reports, it is predicted that by 2030, 58% of the vehicles in the US will be electric; this is equivalent to approximately 150 million cars. This will likely result from the decrease in the cost of minerals critical for battery systems and inverter technology, such as lithium. The shifting to electrically operated mining vehicles will lead to a sustainable world. Various leading market holders have already shifted towards electrically-operated vehicles. For instance, Bortana EV created by Safescape is a light vehicle with a 150km range, a 50kWh 3ME battery, a 135kW output motor, and 320 Nm torque. The battery system is a smart lithium-ion battery that is maintenance-free and can support rapid charging, which achieves a high energy density. The vehicle's most attractive property is its corrosion-resistant chassis. This vehicle's life expectancy is expected to be 8-10 years, while the typical Landcruiser's usually last around 2-3 years due to the onset of corrosion from consistent mine exposure. The potential benefits of underground mine transport are enormous, as it eliminates one of the significant sources of respiratory hazard – exhaust emissions.
Small projects and limited budget is expected to be some of the prominent drawbacks of the underground mining vehicles market.
On the contrary, mining causes various temporary and permanent damages to the environment and society. There are various health diseases to the persons living near the mine area, as mining vehicles are responsible for air pollution, water pollution, and other adverse impacts. There are various health hazards of coal mining, but lung illnesses caused by inhaling coal dust are the most prevalent among miners and people living in mines' vicinity. According to the Hindustan Times report, Mining is one of the contributing factors to developing lung cancer; the most common form is mesothelioma, which grows in the lungs' lining; it generally takes 10-15 years of exposure history. A recent study from the institute Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute assessed the health of the villagers in Tamnar block of Raigarh, which is home to several coal mines revealed that nearby mining activities had exposed the tribal population of Raigarh at increased risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI), tuberculosis, road traffic accident (RTA), etc.
However, the government has provided strict guidelines in which environmental clearance plans must be submitted to the regulatory bodies. Authoritarian Directorate General of Mine Safety (DGMS) guidelines are being followed. Mining companies like Vedanta, Adanai are taking care of their employees by regular health checkups, providing safe drinking water, planting trees, infrastructure, and various other facilities.
COVID-19 Impact Analysis
Amid the pandemic, all the mining work was paused for several months worldwide, which lead to huge financial losses to the mining companies. Furthermore, which resulted in the unemployment of employees working in the mining sector. Mining vehicle companies got into huge losses as mining operations require huge investments. However, after the pandemic, the mining sector recommenced the procedures and aims to recover all the losses by 2022. Besides, there comes a great growing opportunity for the Indian mining vehicles market to grow. According to the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST), the spread of COVID-19 has seen renewed interest in remote operating vehicles and their optimization to maximize efficiencies and reduce the number of personnel required on a mine site at a time Global.
The recovery of the losses is made by increasing the daily production, requiring more mining machines. Indian Government has been taking various initiatives to increase revenue from mining, like distributing new 41 coal blocks to private companies in India. Different multinational companies are also planning to invest in the Indian mining sector. Commencing of new mines in India will also boost the underground mining vehicles market. For example, in 2021, the Embassy of Belarus in India and the current General Manager of BELAZ Sergei Nikiforovich recently signed a contract in which OJSC BELAZ and the Indian managed state-owned company Coal India signed a deal for supplying 96 Belarussian 240 t 7531 mining trucks.
Market Segment Analysis
Classification on type of mineral, the underground mining vehicles market is classified into coal mining vehicles, metal mining vehicles, and marine mining vehicles.
The coal mining vehicles market is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period (2020-2027)
Coal is one of the principal fuels used worldwide for producing energy. Coal plays a prominent role in the generation of electricity worldwide. According to World Coal Organization studies, coal-fired power plants currently fuel 37% of global electricity. In additi0n, other coal applications are in refineries, paper manufacturers, coking coal for the generation of steel. Coal also produces various energy gases such as methane, shale gas, which unconventional methods can extract. Globally, power generation from coal grew by 3% during 2016-2017. India saw the most considerable growth in demand in the year 2017, reaching almost 4%. Moreover, coal mining is expected to grow by 225.62 mn ton during 2020-2024.
Conventional Mining of coal can be done by the Bord and pillar method and Longwall method based on the depth of deposit, shape, size, the thickness of ore body, geological properties, inclination, and geological disturbances.
According to the Economic Times report, Government's declaration to relax FDI in coal mining will take a while to translate into substantial growth for the auto sector. The recent removal of Maharatna PSU Coal India Ltd (CIL) monopoly is undoubtedly a significant move to pull more private investments to the business and boost the output. Besides Coal India limited, various other public and private entities procure mining vehicles. Like, Singareni Collieries Company Limited, jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and India's Government, runs 18 opencast and 27 Underground mines producing about 62 MMT. In Tamil Nadu, NLC India Limited has 30 MMT of Lignite from four open cast mines. Tata Steel is a significant buyer of vehicles for its captive coal and iron ore mines in Jharkhand in the private sector. India's leading private companies like Reliance Power, Tata Power, and Jindal Steel and Power are also working on various new projects to develop revenue captive coal mines, which will require the latest technologies and equipment.
Market Geographical Share
Asia Pacific region holds the largest market share global underground mining vehicles market.
The Asia Pacific is the leading largest market for underground mining vehicles globally and is forecasted to continue its lead in the market. India and Australia are considered the highest share due to industrialization. India's coal mining industry accounts for almost 80 per cent of its demand for mining vehicles, with India's new coal block allocation process in 2018 and the budget allocated to Coal India Limited (CIL) in 2019 to modernize its machines, steady growth in the mining industry and a higher demand for new mining vehicles is expected. Although China has been the foreign supplier of mining equipment in recent years, ongoing political tensions between India and China may provide new opportunities to regain the lost market share of India's imports.
According to the Ministry of Mines, in 2018-2019, India mined 95 different minerals and metals from 1,405 mines and produced an estimated $17 million in minerals and aims to raise steel production in India by 300 million tons by 2030.
India aims to provide various new opportunities for starting new mining projects as it is gifted with different minerals that are yet to be explored. Besides, India has a great potential to provide various minerals like bauxite, coal, ore, and iron. The Indian government's initiative for the development of the mining sector has created ample opportunities for the mining vehicles sector. Besides, as mining can raise the economy, for instance, the Government has allowed 100% FDI for the mining sector for exploration of various minerals.
CIL is looking to modernize vehicles for higher capacity mining (e.g., exploration augmentation, operator-independent truck dispatch systems, continuous miner technology, longwall technology) and improve railway links. CIL plans to introduce 26 continuous miners in 19 mines and two longwall mines in 2 mines in the next five years. India's coal mining industry accounts for almost 80 per cent of its demand for mining vehicles, with India's new coal block allocation process in 2018 and the budget allocated to CIL in 2019 to modernize its machines, steady growth in the mining industry, and a higher demand for new mining vehicles is expected. Although China has been the foreign supplier of mining equipment in recent years, ongoing political tensions between India and China may provide new opportunities to regain the lost market share of India's imports.
Australia produces 19 minerals in huge amounts from over 350 operating mines. Moreover, the Australian Mining Industry is forecasted to deliver the highest revenue of almost $250 billion in export to the Australian economy.
Companies and Competitive Landscape
The underground mining vehicles market is highly competitive with a few local players, followed by the global companies contributing to the major share in the underground mining market. Besides, some of the key players contributing to the market's growth are AARD Mining Equipment (Pty) Ltd, Atlas Copco AB, BoartLongyear Ltd, Caterpillar Inc, Guizhou Sinodrills Equipment Co. Ltd, Komatsu Ltd., and Sandvik AB. The major players are adopting various new strategies to dominate the market, such as launching vehicles with new technologies, vehicles with the least possible adverse environmental impacts, and high efficiency are some of the key points responsible for the growth of the underground mining vehicles market globally.
Caterpillar Inc.
Overview: Caterpillar Inc is one of the leading key players worldwide for manufacturing underground mining equipment, natural gas, and diesel engine, locomotives, and gas turbines. The company earned a total revenue of total $41.7 billion in the year 2020. Caterpillar Inc was started in the year 1925 in the US. It aims to serve its customers with a sustainable world by providing autonomy& automation, and solutions to customer problems.
Product Portfolio: Caterpillar Inc manufactures underground mining trucks, laud haul dumpers, continuous miners, draglines, locomotives, drilling machines, and various mining equipment.
Critical Development: In 2021, the company launched two new products in India, gearing up to meet expected demand; the company launched its new Cat 320D2 GC Hydraulic Excavator and 950L Wheel Loader in the Indian market. Also, it will be introducing higher capacity off-highway trucks in India. Caterpillar showcased their Cat 773E and 777E Off-Highway trucks to customers in International Mining & Machinery Exhibition (IMME). The company said the new Cat 777E is a 97.98-tonne- capacity off-road truck.
