Almost 800 metres beneath the rugged Sudbury landscape, I hold onto the side of the open bed of a Toyota Land Cruiser as we traverse 11 kilometres through dark, drippy mining tunnels. Wearing clumsy steel-toed rubber boots, a hard hat, hearing and eye protection, and orange coveralls, I clutch a heavy (for me, at least) canister that is looped around my neck. We’ve had instructions on how to activate it in the event of a mine…incident. We’ve already passed by the room you have to get to in the event of a fire. I am fully prepped for every disaster and know I would remain incapable of doing anything right.
Underground mining: not for the faint of heart.
It’s also not for the faint of vehicle.
We’re here as Toyota celebrates Kenreki — 60 years of selling and making cars in Canada. By 1965, the company had sold 755 cars to Canadians; today it sells almost that many every single day. But what it’s accomplished, and continues to accomplish, below ground is every bit as newsworthy.
Toyota Land Cruisers have been the industry standard for decades. Miller Technology in North Bay, Ontario, is one of only two specialists in North America (the other is ENS Industrial in Saskatchewan) adapting the 70 Series made in Japan for use in mining operations around the world. It started in 1979 when Ron Miller began making purpose-built mining carts: bespoke runabouts that could withstand the brutal subterranean mining climate.
By 1989, the company expanded and used these diesel Land Cruisers exclusively. To meet the regulatory compliance of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), extensive changes are made to the vehicles. Standard braking systems are modified with a fail-to-safe system, which must be tested by an independent third party. Suspension and chassis upgrades reinforce the frame, axles, springs and struts. Test criteria put the gross weight of the vehicle — with gear and occupants included — to 4,500 kg. The Land Cruisers land in the shop weighing about 2,000 kg. When they exit and head for the mines, they weigh roughly double that.
Hugh McDermid, Vice President of Product & Business Development at Miller Technology, is overseeing a booming sector. “Together with Australia, Canada has the highest safety standards in the world,” he says. “In 2010 we made 60 units; in 2023, it was about 330.” Vehicles are exported globally. The company employs about 80 to 100 people. As mining worldwide continues to expand at a rapid pace, he anticipates substantial growth for those creating these adapted vehicles. I asked him why they exclusively use Toyota. “We have experimented with Jeep and Ram products, but they simply weren’t suited for the underground environment,” he says with the elegance of a diplomat.
Hard rock mining standards dictate a maximum speed of 32 km/h (it felt like we were doing a much more blistering pace; we were not), so Miller physically changes the shift gate to block out anything beyond third gear. The rear of the truck we were in sported two padded bench seats with six seatbelts, useful as the rugged terrain pops you up and down like a little kid on a pogo stick. Toyota has been in Canada for 60 years; so have I but I’ve proven far less durable.
The 60th anniversary coincides with the return of this perennial favourite — the Land Cruiser — to the manufacturer’s model line-up after the last was sold in 1989 (the 200 Series was sold in the U.S. until 2020). A visit to the place that has never stopped using them was timely, and a great advertisement to just how tough these little beasts truly are. Nothing used in the mines is street-legal, but Land Cruiser fans will be glad to have that option again as new converts line up.
The mine-worthy Land Cruisers have an average lifespan — often spent entirely below ground — of five to seven years. The diesel engines are basically only turned off for maintenance. They are driven hard and put away rumbling, no rest for the rugged.
In a world that is now mining components to drive the uptake and adoption of electric vehicles, it comes as no surprise that Miller Technology is at the forefront of that wave, too. “We absolutely are working with clients in developing the best EVs for the mining industry,” says McDermid. They’ve been working on electric solutions since 2015, with the Toyota Land Cruisers continuing to be the vehicle of choice. It would revolutionize the industry. The cost for the air transfer exchange systems in mines can make up to 30% of the mine’s running cost, according to McDermid. Swapping clean electric in for decidedly-less-clean diesel would not only save money, but it would also result in a more environmentally friendly application for an industry that is traditionally harsh on the environment. To put it mildly. We were told we didn’t need masks, but after coming out topside, a UV flashlight revealed our boots and jeans were lit up with…stuff. A mine is never going to be a sterile environment, but ditching a large component of the diesel fumes would be great for costs, and lungs.
“The upfront cost switching to an electrified Land Cruiser initially is about double,” says McDermid. “But over the life of the asset, it’s cheaper to operate.” Fewer moving parts and less maintenance means a rig that can do more work — and do it with no emissions. McDermid explains that the EV models have liquid cooling systems for the batteries, and workers can take advantage of “opportunity charging”; in anticipation of EV adoption, mines are building charging infrastructure, just like we’re doing on the surface. McDermid says one northern Ontario mining site has already switched 30% of its fleet to electric.
Governments everywhere, including here in Ontario and Canada, are injecting billions into the mining and mining-adjacent industries to source critical minerals, that, as McDermid says, “make the world go round. If we can be a part of making that better, safer and more cost-effective, we are grateful to play that role.”
Toyota Land Cruisers: a nearly invisible backbone of something that makes the world go round.
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