SURFACE AUTOMATION
competitors can’t. All miners regardless of size
are looking to gain a better bottom line profit by
introducing machine automation. The larger
players definitely have an attitude that leads to
larger scale projects of machine automation and
hence a larger capital investment. With the
smaller players having a more focused attitude on
critical areas of their business they offer
productivity gains with a lower capital outlay.”
The immediate benefit of integrating
automation was the lack of machine damage that
was occurring which was probably overlooked
when the automation push first came into the
industry. “Suppliers were reluctant to drive the
machines outside of the OEM specifications,
which then resulted in less wear and tear of
major components, better fuel economy and less
overall downtime associated with operator abuse
of machinery. When this is taken into account,
the return on investment is still relatively fast,
but maybe not seen as an immediate increase in
production rather a lowering of the cost base.”
An autonomous Atlas
Copco Pit Viper 271 at a
BHP Billiton operation
The Rio Tinto road to success
Pilbara continues to lead progress
In its June 2016 production quarter, Fortescue
Metals Group, the world’s fourth largest iron ore
miner after Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale,
stated: “During the quarter, the Solomon
Autonomous Haulage System fleet safely
transported the 200 millionth tonne of material
using driverless trucks.” The company reported
shipments of 43.4 Mt of iron ore with cash
production costs of US$14.31 per wet metric
tonne (wmt), a reduction of 3% compared to the
March 2016 quarter and 35% over the prior
twelve months. Guidance for FY17 has also been
released targeting shipments between 165-170
Mt and cash production costs in the range of
US$12-13/wmt.
Chief Executive Officer, Nev Power, said: “Our
June quarter result demonstra tes the consistent
delivery of outstanding operational performance
across all aspects of our business. Costs have
been lowered for the tenth consecutive quarter
and our continued focus on productivity and
efficiency measures will drive C1 costs even lower
in FY17. With net debt reduced to US$5.2 billion,
we are fast approaching our initial balance sheet
targets and will continue to apply cash flows to
further reduce debt.”
In a report coinciding with the results in
newspaper The West Australian, Power was
further quoted: “We now have 47 autonomous
trucks and have shifted over 200 Mt. We are very
pleased with the productivity improvements we
are getting. We are getting around 20% over and
above what we would get from a regular fleet of
trucks of the same type.” The fleet now consists
of 47 Caterpillar Command for Hauling 793F CMD
autonomous trucks, supplied through Cat dealer
WesTrac. “These trucks don’t need to stop to
International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2016
trial, is for upgrade packages to 18 drill rigs. It
also includes two machines already operating
autonomously. The 20 Pit Viper 271 autonomous
rigs will initially be controlled at BHP Billiton’s
five iron ore mines in Pilbara, with the longerterm aim of remote operation from Perth, more
than 1,000 km away, Atlas Copco said. The move
will increase BHP Billiton’s drill capacity by a
third and the Atlas Copco drills allow cost
reduction of drilling operations by about 27%.
change drivers, clean windscreens and do those
sorts of things,” Power said. “The big gain in
them is that they can drive at higher speeds in all
conditions and that they only need to be stopped
when they are being maintained or refuelled. We
can do more work with fewer trucks so there is a
saving in terms of capital. A key part of this has
been developing that relationship with Caterpillar
and WesTrac because it does take a lot of work
from the vendor and the dealer to do this.”
Caterpillar’s Global Head of Mining Denise
Johnson was also quoted, saying the Caterpillar
793 had proved to be very productive for remote
operations. “We started with that model because
we felt it was the sweet spot but we do have
intentions of expanding that size truck,” she said.
“It’s not the largest but it is one that is very
heavily used and is in many remote fleets. The
trend is fewer people, less interactions between
people and machines, but there are certain
elements of site management where human
intervention won’t go away completely.”
The other Cat autonomous truck customer,
BHP Billiton, has been trialling 12 Command for
Hauling 793F CMD driverless haul trucks at its
Jimblebar iron ore mine. WA Iron Ore Asset
President Edgar Basto Basto said in The West
Australian that the truck program was making
good progress but that the project would be
assessed by the end of the year. However, BHP
Billiton is moving ahead rapidly with its blasthole
drill automation program. Atlas Copco recently
won an order from BHPB for autonomous drill rig
upgrades to be used at iron ore mines in Western
Australia. The order, which follows a two-year
The pioneering mines in full automation in the
Pilbara were Rio Tinto’s Yandicoogina, Hope
Downs 4 and Nammuldi mines – which also
became the first in the world to move all of their
iron ore using fully automated, driverless
haulage trucks. Rio Tinto first introduced the
Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) at its iron
ore operations eight years ago as part of its Mine
of the Future programme and is now the world’s
largest owner and operator of autonomous
trucks. The group has 71 Komatsu 930E-4AT
trucks equipped with the Frontrunner
Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) across three
Pilbara iron ore mines, moving about 20% of the
operations’ material. The AHS was developed by
Komatsu and Komatsu company Modular Mining
Systems, Inc.
Rio Tinto was one of the first in the industry to
adopt automation, and it is visible across many
aspects of its Pilbara operations. In addition to
the AHS trucks, the Group’s Iron Ore business
operates seven fully Autonomous Drill Systems
(ADS) to drill production blastholes, and drones
are being trialled to measure stockpiles and
assist with environmental and maintenance
activities. The machines are controlled from the
1,500 km distant Perth Operations Centre, which
itself has 400 employees.
Michael Gollschewski, Managing Director of
Rio Tinto’s Pilbara mines, says technology has
transformed productivity at the iron ore operations
and helped the business ride out the highs and
lows of the cycle. This early adoption of technology
has played a key role in positioning Rio Tinto as
the lowest cost iron ore producer in the Pilbara.
“Our first mover advantage from developing
our Operations Centre in Perth and implementing
autonomous technology has been instrumental
to our continued success,” he told an industry
conference in March. “Tied in with the other
productivity improvements we have made, this
technology is game changing.”
Results over the past eight years show the
Group’s investment in automation has paid off,
delivering improvements across safety and
productivity, and reducing maintenance costs.
“Autonomous trucks reduce employee
exposure to hazards and risks associated with
operating heavy equipment, such as fatigue-