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    Sandvik’s 45-unit JCHX fleet for Khoemacau: integration and automation lens

    June 4, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Sandvik’s 45-unit JCHX fleet for Khoemacau: integration and automation lens

    First reported on International Mining – News

    30 Second Briefing

    Sandvik has secured a 45-unit underground fleet order from Chinese contractor JCHX Mining Management for deployment at MMG’s Khoemacau Copper Mine in Botswana, booked in Q2 2026. The package includes Toro LH621i loaders, Toro TH663i trucks and Sandvik DD422i development drills, giving JCHX a fully integrated load–haul–drill fleet on a single automation-ready platform. The deal signals continued investment in high-capacity, intelligent equipment at Khoemacau, with implications for fleet standardisation, digital maintenance planning and future autonomous operation.

    Technical Brief

    • Common i-series control systems enable unified diagnostics, spares and operator training across load–haul–drill units.
    • Fleet standardisation around Sandvik automation-ready platforms simplifies future traffic management and collision-avoidance deployment.
    • Digital readiness of the fleet supports condition-based maintenance and planned component change-outs to stabilise unit costs.

    Our Take

    The 45-unit Sandvik fleet order into MMG’s Khoemacau Copper Mine aligns closely with MMG’s previously approved expansion there, which in our database targets 130,000 t/y of copper in concentrate, signalling that underground development capacity is being scaled ahead of, not after, the production ramp-up.

    Sandvik’s new global strategic cooperation agreement with JCHX, reported earlier in 2026, suggests this Botswana copper deployment is an early test case for that framework, likely giving Sandvik a stronger reference for supplying large contract miners in African underground copper districts.

    JCHX’s concurrent investment in a high-end intelligent equipment factory in Hubei indicates that, over the Q2 2026 horizon and beyond, MMG’s Botswana operations could become an outlet for more automation-ready or ‘intelligent’ underground gear, which may influence how future fleet renewals at Khoemacau are specified and sourced.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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