Going all in

Q: Can you provide an overview of the McIlvenna Bay project?

A: McIlvenna Bay is Foran’s first operation, located in east-central Saskatchewan. It’ll be an underground mine, around 4,900 tons a day, longhole open stoping with paste backfill. We’ll be mining critical minerals in the form of copper and zinc, and we’ll also produce gold and silver. In terms of the development status, the decline is now extended 600 meters in length. We’re starting to see some real work on surface, with clearing earthworks and even pouring of mill foundations a few months ago, so things are progressing well. These are very exciting times as we advance the project towards first copper concentrate in the first half of 2026. We feel humbled to be one of the pioneers when it comes to really taking the leap with a full BEV fleet of prime movers right from the start. We’re excited about what it can do to the mining landscape as a whole and hoping that our success can encourage others.

Q: Since carbon neutrality is not necessarily yet cost-efficient in underground mining, how does 
Foran justify its ambitions?

A: You have to look at the future – how the technology’s progressing, the price of fuel will not be going down, and understanding the social requirements of the future. There is the financial component. There are savings on capital, such as ventilation infrastructure, to be captured early in the mine life. Also, doing the right thing means considering our employees’ health and safety, which you cannot put a price on. Having our operators breathing in cleaner air each and every shift is fully aligned with our company values.

Q: What was Foran’s process for evaluating different battery-electric mining suppliers?

A: The decision before I joined was ‘we’re going battery’ and then after I joined was, ‘OK, who are we partnering up with?’ And in terms of that decision-
making process, technology was key. Are we confident this is the right technology, it’s robust, reliable? That was a big one. And then just the partnership aspect of it, could we feel like there’d be some good collaboration with our supplier, because it’s an extremely important relationship we have here. Both companies share the risk together. We both need to make this successful with the investment that Sandvik had put in and the investment that Foran have put in. So that collaboration piece, real partnership, relationship, was another one. I would say thirdly it’s about how forward thinking the partner would be. So we see this as, yeah, this is where we are now, but, you know, five, 10 years from now, is the company going to keep looking for ways to improve their product? We’ve definitely seen some great developments with Sandvik technology, and looking at the safety and productivity in the recent past. Another thing that we definitely look at in terms of our partners is ingenuity: thinking in the long term, looking ahead to the next step. Never be happy with the status quo. How do we get better?

Q: Summarize the BEV fleet Foran 
has invested in for McIlvenna Bay.

A: Our maiden fleet at McIlvenna Bay consists of four Sandvik DD422iE split-feed battery jumbos. We currently have two on site. They’ve been drilling now for a few months, and we’re going to get two more shortly, then possibly more in the future. In terms of other drills we have our Sandvik DL422iE longhole drills coming in. We have a Sandvik boom bolter as well for reconditioning jobs and cable bolting. The bigger components are obviously the LHDs and the trucks. For the LHDs, we’ve chosen Sandvik LH518iB, so we’re looking forward to seeing that in action, with its intelligent features, tele-remote and automation. And then for the trucks, we’ll be hauling our copper-zinc ore with Sandvik TH550B 50-ton trucks. We’ll have a lot of muck to move and we feel confident that those two prime movers will be able to handle everything we throw at it. It’s going to be quite the impressive fleet.

Q: How do you characterize the relationship between Foran and Sandvik?

A: In one word, I’d say collaborative. 
It’s daily communications between the teams. Sandvik’s been responsive with our requests, so we really feel like one team. We’ve all got a lot riding on this, on the success of this. And it’s evident that Sandvik wants this to succeed as much as we do. So that’s been a great experience. Every step of the way, we’re in constant communication with the Sandvik team. So we’ve really worked very collaboratively with Sandvik.

Q: What would you say to other mines considering BEVs but struggling to commit?

A: I’d say just to take the leap and plan it ahead of time in your budgets and not to be too nearsighted. Look at where the industry is going, and the benefits that this technology brings. And then once you do decide to do it, just go all in. Don’t have a plan B or a fallback, because fallbacks are expensive. Be focused, dedicated and it’ll happen.

Q: What about the value-add with the AutoSwap and AutoConnect functions? How seamless do you perceive those technologies?

A: The AutoSwap technology and the Sandvik battery were two big factors that brought the Sandvik BEV product up to the top of our list. You want to maximize your useful time, time at the face, for all equipment. It’s a complete waste of productivity, time, money, when you’re changing a battery. So obviously to have something cumbersome will cost both money and production, and frustrate employees as well, so obviously the quicker you can turn that around in a safe way, which is how the system is set up, has huge advantages in terms of productivity for the mine.

Q: Did ROI calculations help justify the heavier capital investment in BEVs compared to diesel?

A: It is higher capital investment, but you have to look at the big picture, with less ventilation costs. That’s operating costs. Your ventilation typically costs about 60 to 70 percent of your total mine power costs. So reducing that is big on operating costs, plus the whole ventilation system itself. So there are advantages that way. But you can’t just look at 
the cost right now. You have to look 
at the cost in the future as well. So 
as we replace and as technology becomes more and more popular, usually the price will relatively go down, and you look at the cost of fuel, it’s definitely not going to go down in the future. So if you look five-10 years out, the business case becomes increasingly robust, when you consider expected future costs as well. But also you look at overall, your company brand, your company name and the thirst for shareholders to be joining and investing in a company that is doing the right thing for the environment, those are also financial considerations that you have to take into account.