No longer online (just) the recent ABC "Media Watch -s2026e22- Monday 2026-07-06 BHP Battery Bunkum" episode had a bit to say about the curtain (media releases) not matching the carpet (purchasing).
That aside .. electric motors are as big a deal in mining as they've always been -
* bench face excavators are fully electric and drag power lines behind them as they load out trucks,
* most hundred+ tonne haul pak trucks are electrically driven .. (using power from onboard diesel generators),
* underground likes to use semi autonomous leading edge tools (up hole drilling for blasting, face shaving and loadout, etc) on powerlines, so you do see more usage there than in open CUT (I know, open cast was likely a typo)
etc.
Even super pro renewable Fortescue's Twiggy Forrest is having setbacks, although he's always been three steps forward, two and half back for much of his career, so things are still progressing.
eg: Fortescue- Feb 2026
Fortescue launched two battery-electric locomotives this week, rounding out its fleet of 70 diesel-powered machines hauling precious iron-ore from pit to port.
The pair [ of battery powered locomotives ] will save the company 1 million litres of diesel each year, still just a fraction of the 80 million litres the company consumes annually.
... the company's stalled "Infinity Train" concept.
Andrew Forrest had previously touted an in-house electric rail model, developed with Australian engineering firm Downer Group, that generated all the power it needed using the uphill-downhill dynamics of the Pilbara ranges.
The project was canned, however, in September, axing more than 100 staff.
Definitely going for it, still a ways to go.
Fortescue's hydrogen generation pilot plants went well and have closed up shop - the economics are "close" but not "feasible" in the current climate - still too many subsidies for Chevron and LNG and too few for novel gas startups that need a full stack to function (generation + storage + usage).