Barrick Gold US have made a bulk order of light vehicles
from Ford, after having been chosen to test the prototype 2015 Ford F-150
trucks.
The new trucks feature an experimental aluminium-alloy cargo
box, which has been torture tested by workers throwing heavy gear, pumps and
motors into the cargo bed on a daily basis.
Barrack made an order for 35 of the new trucks, to be used
in US operations, and Ford has said the mining company is ready to replace its
entire fleet of hundreds of 2012 F-150s.
The new vehicles run on 3.5 litre V6 and 5.0 litre V8
engines.
Organisers for the Asia-Pacific International Mining
Exhibition (AIMEX) have dropped the rumour that Ford, which will be on display
at the Sydney mining event in September, have been planning something big.
Could their plans include a live demonstration of a mining
specific F-150 truck?
Australian Mining has
contacted Ford for further comment.