Rio ramps up driverless trucks at Yandicoogina
Rio Tinto’s driverless trucks have begun hauling iron ore at its Yandicoogina mine in Western Australia. The Junction South East pit recently used a fleet of 10 Komatsu driverless haul trucks to move high grade ore for the first time.
Komatsu driverless trucks working for Rio in the Pilbara.
Rio said the trucks will fulfil all haulage requirements in the pit, moving high grade, low grade and waste material from multiple loading units.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive, Sam Walsh, said “the deployment of these trucks at Yandocoogina is the next step in our programme to introduce over 150 driverless trucks to our Pilbara operations, making us the world’s largest owner and operator of these vehicles.
“These new trucks will work with our pioneering Operations Centre that integrates and manages the logistics of 14 mines, three ports and two railways. They will be a critical part of our drive to outstanding safety and production efficiency as we grow our business towards 353mtpa.”
Rio Tinto has been testing the Komatsu AHS, the world's first commercial autonomous mining haulage system, in the Pilbara since December 2008.
| Tweet |
