Barrick Gold Orders All New 2015 F-150 Pickups

US mining company Barrick Gold announced it has placed an initial order for 35 all-new F-150s from Ford Motor Company. The company was one of three Ford customers chosen in 2012 to blindly test two prototype F-150 pickups with experimental aluminum-alloy cargo boxes.

The Detroit-based company gave six Barrick Gold employees at Bald Mountain and Cortez gold mines the keys to the F-150 trucks and told them to “drive it like you stole it and work it hard.”

“We are proud Barrick is purchasing all-new F-150s after testing early prototypes in some of the harshest conditions,” said Fritz Ahadi, Ford Commercial and Government Fleet Sales general manager. “This is terrific proof that even our toughest, most demanding customers recognize the benefits of high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy to help them get the job done.”

During testing, Barrick racked up more than 100,000  miles on its two F-150 test vehicles. The company put the trucks through the harshest challenges possible – the mining industry.

“The F-150s see tough duty from operations supervisors, exploration field technicians, project managers, maintenance technicians and closure personnel,” said Rebecca Caudill, Barrick Gold USA fleet manager.

“Many of the trucks go into extremely rugged conditions during the planning and mapping out of new projects, core drilling and daily mining operations. Our trucks will see 30,000 to 35,000 miles per year, accumulating well over 100,000 miles in the 40-to-45-month lease rotation.”

The initial order by Barrick Gold is for $750,000 which will include 35 of the F-150 SuperCab 4x4 models with the 3.5-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8.