The Rise of Autonomous Trucks in the Mining Industry

Autonomous trucks are transforming mining operations worldwide. This technology arrives at a crucial time for an industry facing dwindling resources, depressed commodity prices, and heightened safety scrutiny. Mining companies are now operating autonomous fleets around the clock, streamlining operations from extraction to haulage. These automated systems reduce overhead costs and enhance site safety and operational efficiency. 

Autonomous vehicles and equipment offer compelling advantages for fleet managers looking to optimize their mining operations. Let's explore how this technology can benefit your mining sites. 

How Autonomous Mining Trucks & Other Equipment Benefit Mine Sites 

The mining industry is under increasing pressure from consumers who want responsibly sourced products. This means that industry leaders must be mindful of their mines' social and environmental impact in addition to their financial performance.  

Consumers demand that companies keep their workforce safe and limit their impact on the environment in the communities where they operate. 

Companies that ignore this changing landscape risk alienating potential customers and investors. To ensure that they measure up, the industry is looking for autonomous solutions to meet these changing imperatives and the expectations of their stakeholders. 

Vehicle and equipment manufacturers have responded to these demands with drills, dozers, underground loaders, and other vehicles. Some manufacturers are further along than others with this cutting-edge technology, but more autonomous haulage systems with additional functionalities are introduced each year.  

These innovative transport solutions help reduce emissions, improve safety, and increase productivity. These solutions provide savings and enhance the reputations of companies that deploy this autonomous equipment. Leading manufacturers in this space include: 

• Caterpillar 
• Volvo 
• Komatsu 
• Scania 
• Sandvik 
• Hitachi 

The autonomous solutions these companies offer have been a boon for mining sites. They offer many key features and benefits over manned mining equipment, such as: 

• Improved safety features 
• Fewer safety incidents 
• Reduced operating costs 
• Increased operating efficiency 

History of Autonomous Trucks at Mine Sites 

This cutting-edge autonomous technology has been used at mines for over thirty years. In 1990, Komatsu deployed Field Management Software to manage operations at mines in Japan, which laid the groundwork for commercial use.  

It took some time to develop this technology for a commercial launch, but Komatsu finally achieved it over fifteen years later. Their autonomous mining technology was commercially deployed in Chile in 2007 and Australia in 2008. 

One of the most significant early uses of autonomous mining vehicles was by the Rio Tinto Group at Australia's Mine of the Future in 2008. Australia's Pilbara region is rich in minerals but in a remote location. Workers operate an autonomous mining fleet in this region from a control center in Perth. 

 Six years into the operation, autonomous trucks hauled 200 million metric tons. Two years later, in 2016, the Rio Tinto Group was the first in the world to transport all its iron ore via driverless trucks and vehicles. 

In another important milestone for this technology's history, Syama Gold Mine in Bali became the world's first fully autonomous underground mine in 2019. In an industry-first, the mine deployed automated drilling, loading, and haulage from Sandvik, a Swedish engineering company, to achieve fully autonomous operations. 

Australia continues to lead the way with this state-of-the-art technology and has significantly more driverless vehicles in operation at mine sites. Canada follows but trails behind significantly. Komatsu and Caterpillar are industry veterans who have each hauled more than 3 billion tonnes of material. 

Now that successful autonomous mines are operating worldwide, more companies are curious about how they can implement this technology at their own sites. 

Benefits of Autonomous Haulage Systems 

An automatic haulage system is a fleet management system designed for mines. It relies on a wireless connection to create an interconnected system that equips mining machines with GPS, vehicle controllers, and obstacle detection systems.  

This system enhances the benefits of a fleet of autonomous vehicles. Its capabilities enable route mapping and safety features that can benefit mining companies. 

Spike Your Productivity 

These systems can improve operational efficiency in measurable ways. There are no shift changes or lunch breaks, and the machines always operate within the parameters you set within the automatic haulage system.  

This eliminates the production slowdowns that can occur with human workers, enabling more reliable and efficient production planning. You can expect increased truck availability, maximized resources, decreased total vehicle cost of ownership, and boosted uptime. 

Perform Quality Maintenance 

Autonomous haulage systems make proactive maintenance easy. You can set the driving parameters so that your fleet's mobile equipment always performs optimally, limiting vehicle wear and tear and reducing necessary maintenance.  

This system will alert you whenever anything goes wrong and immediately provide diagnostic information to your service department. It can also alert you when it's time to perform regularly scheduled maintenance or other proactive maintenance tasks. 

This system makes vehicle maintenance easier and more reliable than relying on human drivers to notice and alert you to vehicle problems. Your equipment will spend less time idle in the shop and be available for work more often. 

Control Over Operations 

Another advantage of these systems is improved visibility and transparency. Since they allow you to set driving parameters, you can also ensure compliance and achieve consistent, predictable performance day after day. This makes it easier than ever to meet your production capabilities. 

Data-Driven Insights 

With data about all your mining operations visible in one place, it's easy to gain actionable insights. You can use this information to continuously tweak your approach and develop plans based on real-world data. 

Get the Best Performance 

These systems can ensure that you leverage your resources—personnel, equipment, and technology—to get the best return on your investment. They allow you to integrate and maximize your existing resources at every phase of your mining operations. Autonomous haulage systems support you from feasibility analysis to program implementation implementation.  

Workforce Management 

An automatic haulage system allows workers to operate vehicles from far away. That's great news for mining companies operating in remote locations where attracting and retaining skilled workers can be challenging. Some systems may provide tools for online learning that will help you upskill your workforce. 

Solutions for the Mining Industry 

At Powerfleet, we offer a range of fleet management solutions for the mining industry that can help support both autonomous and manned vehicles and equipment. Most mining operations aren't comfortable with going fully autonomous overnight.  

Our tools can help you manage and integrate a manual and autonomous mining equipment fleet. We also support you with our extensive telematics expertise for mining operations. Our solutions help mining companies get the most out of their fleets. 

• Safer Mines: We're proud to help make mines safer. On average, our clients see a 30% reduction in collisions. We give you the tools to monitor unsafe driving behaviors. When dangerous driving events occur, drivers and managers alike get an alert. Some products feature driver coaching tools and can even detect distracted driving or driver fatigue. 
• Reduced Operating Costs: Costs from maintenance, insurance, repairs, and fuel cut into already tight profit margins. Fleet telematics tools lower these costs by ensuring that drivers are accountable for their performance. Our app makes it fun for truck drivers to improve their driving habits and keeps them engaged. 
• Lower Emissions: Mining companies often must comply with regulations for emissions targets or incorporate sustainability into their brands. Whatever your reason for setting sustainability targets, we have tools to help. We've helped our clients save as much as 540,000 tons of CO² annually. 

With so many telematics products to choose from, we can help you achieve your targets and gain an advantage over your competitors.