Barrick’s Hemlo gold mine in Ontario, Canada, is lining up the arrival of a new Sandvik autonomous drill and eight Sandvik haul trucks as its underground-only contract miner strategy takes hold.

The company said it is expecting eight new Sandvik TH545i 45 t haul trucks to arrive on site in the near term.

These trucks moves more rock and material than its current fleet and are equipped with an ejector box, which means operators do not need to lift the box to dump material – it pushes it out the back – making it easier to work with in smaller areas, the company said.

“Let’s not forget to mention the reduction in emissions from this Tier 4 engine, improving worker safety and lessening the environmental impact,” the company added.

Earlier this week, a Sandvik DL432i fully autonomous drill arrived at Hemlo too. Its fully integrated software allows this machine to drill holes on its own, even between shift changes, according to Barrick.

“Engineers are now able to upload plans and designs for day-to-day operations,” the company said, adding that the cab is enclosed and comes with climate control to cool operators in warmer climates underground.

Late last year, Barrick said it would phase out the open-pit operation at Hemlo and move to an underground contract mining model as it looked to upgrade the mine to a Barrick Tier 2 asset. This saw Barminco appointed as the contract miner earlier this year.