Normet to supply 35 pieces of equipment, including BEVs, to South32 Hermosa
Normet says it has been awarded the ancillary underground equipment fleet contract for the South32 Hermosa project in Arizona, USA.
The contract was executed on April 23, 2025: the same day South32 officially broke ground today on Centro, a remote operations centre in Nogales, Arizona, that will support Hermosa’s innovative and responsible approach to mining. The Normet team participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.
Centro is designed to support the future of mining through innovation and sustainability by providing an office-like setting for employees to operate and monitor equipment 25 miles away, underground.
The contract encompasses 35 pieces of mobile equipment, including Normet SmartDrive battery-electric machinery, and nine power delivery units. The fleet will consist of a Multimec MF 100 SD Multi-functional carrier, Utimec MF 500 SD Transmixers, Utimec MF 205 PER SD Personnel carriers, Charmec MF 605 V LE SD Explosive Charger, as well as scissor lifts, shotcrete sprayers, concrete transmixers, lube trucks, water trucks and rock breakers. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2026 and will continue through to 2030.
Normet said: “This contract award underscores our unwavering commitment to safety, innovation and excellence in the underground equipment industry. We look forward to working with South32 and the communities in Santa Cruz County.”
The news from Normet comes days after Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions signed its own agreement to supply its largest-ever battery-electric vehicle fleet to South32 for Hermosa. Some 22 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were included in this pact as part of a 42-unit underground equipment fleet for Hermosa, a critical minerals project which has first production slated for 2027, with the OEM stating that several of the conventional units ordered may ultimately be manufactured and delivered as BEVs.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Pat Risner, President of South32 Hermosa, commented on these agreements, saying they were more than “contracts to buy pieces of equipment”, including commitments from both manufacturers to establish facilities in Santa Cruz County where they would hire and train local people.
Risner also said: “By the time we’re in full production, our underground equipment fleet will all be battery-electric equipment.”
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