There will be 29 Komatsu haul trucks retrofitted with AHS technology starting next year.
The project at Brockman 4 is scheduled for completion by mid-2019 and that will allow the mine to run entirely in AHS mode once those trucks are fully deployed.
Another 19 Caterpillar 793F trucks at the Marandoo mine will be retrofitted starting mid-2018 for completion by the end of 2019.
This will be the first time Rio Tinto has fielded Caterpillar autonomous trucks.
These retrofit projects are expected to make a significant contribution toward Rio Tinto’s $5 billion productivity program.
It is anticipated the retrofit program will help the iron ore business deliver another $500 million of free cash flow annually from 2021.
Rio Tinto has almost 400 haul trucks in its fleet and about 20% of those are Autonomous Haulage System enabled.
Last year, on average each of those autonomous trucks operated an additional 1000 hours than conventionally operated trucks and they did it at a 15% lower load and haul unit cost than conventional haul trucks.
Following the completion of the Caterpillar and Komatsu projects Rio Tinto will have more than 130 autonomous trucks, representing about 30% of its fleet.
The Caterpillar autonomous truck system draws capabilities from the full range of MineStar System technologies: Command, Terrain, Fleet, Detect and Health.
At Marandoo the mine-wide implementation of Fleet, the scheduling and assignment and material tracking system will market the first use of the system by Rio Tinto.
Beyond installation and start-up, Caterpillar and its Western Australia dealer WesTrac will play ongoing roles in managing and supporting the AHS.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore CEO Chris Salisbury said the company was “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.
“This project with Caterpillar accelerates deployment of autonomous haulage via retrofit in our Pilbara operations and helps meet our objectives of making our operations safer and more productive.
“Rapid advance 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 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 new opportunities for new roles, redeployment, retraining and upskilling.”
The company has so far made no mention of whether any operators will lose their jobs as a result of the increased automation program.
When the project is completed, 48 previously manned trucks will no longer require operators.
As a rule of thumb each conventional truck requires 2.5 operators.
