RIO Tinto will expand the driverless truck program at its Pilbara iron ore operations, retrofitting Caterpillar trucks for the first time for automated operations.
Nineteen Caterpillar haul trucks at the Marandoo mine will be retrofitted with the so-called Autonomous Haulage System technology starting mid-2018 for completion by the end of 2019.
And another 29 Komatsu haul trucks will be retrofitted starting next year at the mining giant’s Brockman 4 operation. The program is scheduled for completion by mid-2019, allowing the mine to run entirely in driverless mode.
Westrac CAT will play an ongoing role in managing and supporting the AHS system.
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READ NOWAbout 20 per cent of Rio’s existing fleet of almost 400 haul trucks in the Pilbara is AHS-enabled.
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Following the completion of the projects, Rio Tinto will have more than 130 autonomous trucks, representing about 30 per cent of its fleet.
The projects are expected to make a significant contribution toward Rio Tinto’s $5 billion productivity programme.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the company was excited to be starting a new chapter in its automation journey with Caterpillar.
“And we are proud to be extending our successful partnership with Komatsu on this world-first retrofitting initiative,” he said.
“Rapid advances in technology are continuing to revolutionise the way large-scale mining is undertaken across the globe.
“The expansion of our autonomous fleet via retrofitting helps to improve safety, unlocks significant productivity gains, and continues to cement Rio Tinto as an industry leader in automation and innovation.
“We are studying future additions to our autonomous fleet in the Pilbara, based on value, to help deliver our share of $5 billion of additional free cash flow for the company by 2021.
“Rio Tinto is committed to working closely with our workforce as we transition to AHS including providing opportunities for new roles, redeployment, retraining and upskilling.”
The company said the retrofit program would assist its iron ore business deliver an additional $500 million of free cashflow annually from 2021.
Last year, on average, each of Rio’s autonomous haul trucks operated an additional 1000 hours and at 15 per cent lower load and haul unit cost than conventional haul trucks.
From a safety perspective, automation has been shown to reduce the number of people exposed to potential hazards as well as reduce the number of critical risk scenarios.