Rio Tinto to Expand Automation in Pilbara Operation
[Click image to enlarge]
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that miner Rio Tinto will significantly expand automation at its Pilbara iron ore operations with the retrofitting of 48 giant haul trucks with autonomous technology over the next two years, as part of a wide ranging USD 5 billion productivity program. The company is also investigating “future additions” to its autonomous Pilbara fleet, and says its fully-autonomous heavy haul rail network is on track to be completed by the end of next year.
When the conversions are completed more than 130 trucks in Rio’s haul fleet, almost one in three, will be autonomous.
Rio said that the truck project will improve productivity and help the iron ore division deliver an extra half a billion dollars a year in free cash flow from 2021.
The project includes the retrofitting of 29 Komatsu trucks and 19 Caterpillar trucks. The move is the first time that Rio has employed Autonomous Haulage System technology on Caterpillar haul trucks.
When the Komatsu conversions are completed, Rio’s Brockman 4 iron ore mine will run “entirely in Autonomous Haulage System mode once fully deployed”, the company said in a statement.
Rio’s Iron Ore Chief Executive, Chris Salisbury, said that “We are excited to be starting a new chapter in our automation journey with a valued long-term partner in Caterpillar and we are proud to be extending our successful partnership with Komatsu on this world-first retrofitting initiative.”
He said that “Rapid advances in technology are continuing to revolutionize 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.”
He said that “We’ve used automation successfully for new pieces of equipment, but this is the very first time that we’ll be retrofitting automation to what were previously manned trucks. So yes, it is a significant development.”
He said that the installation of the “automation smarts” in the trucks would occur alongside physical changes in the truck, “to allow the truck to steer itself and brake itself.”
Source: Steel Guru
To stop by Rio Tinto’s website, CLICK HERE
Be in-the-know when you’re on-the-go!
FREE eNews delivery service to your email twice-weekly. With a focus on lead-driven news, our news service will help you develop new business contacts on an on-going basis.
CLICK HERE to register your email address.
