Komatsu and Rio Tinto have reached an autonomous haulage system milestone, with both companies looking to accelerate the pace of mining automation
Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia has accepted delivery of its 300th Komatsu autonomous haulage system [AHS] truck.
Komatsu and Rio Tinto initially signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2011 to deploy 150 AHS trucks to the Rio Tinto site, and 13 years later the partnership is still going strong with both companies looking to increase the use of automation in mining.
“We’ve led the industry in mining automation since 2008, when we commenced the Rio Tinto trial,” Komatsu Australia mining automation general manager Garry Povah says.
“We delivered the first five AHS trucks to Rio mine sites in Australia in 2011, and it’s incredible to see how much the business has embraced this technology over the years, helping to make their mines safe, and also highly productive.”
AHS trucks address both mine safety and labour shortages in the sector, Povah adds.
Without the need for human operators, Povah says AHS trucks reduce the risk of accident and injury, as well as improving productivity, due to continuous operation.
“The AHS fleet at Rio Tinto sites have completed 8.9 million operating hours and have moved over 4.8 billion tonnes of material – all while improving their sites’ effective utilisation (EU) by 15 per cent – a remarkable feat,” Povah says.
Currently, the 300 AHS trucks are spread across 10 of Rio Tinto’s mine sites, and contribute to approximately 80 per cent of its daily production capacity.
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