Autonomous haulage coming to Qulong in China – the highest mine in the world

A few days ago, Chinese autonomous haulage technology major TAGE Idriver and Zijin Mining’s Tibet Dragon Copper Co Ltd, also known as Tibet Julong Copper, signed a cooperation agreement relating to the development of an unmanned haulage project at the Qulong open pit copper mine, which is the highest large commercial mine in the world at 5,455 m above sea level. For reference, Everest base camp is 5,200 m above the sea level.

This project will be the precursor of a large-scale mining truck transformation at the mine, using TAGE Idriver’s “Kuanggu” or “Unmanned Valley” AHS solution which it says offers both outstanding performance, but als proven high reliability in extreme environments. TAGE Idriver added that Zijin Mining and Tibet Julong Copper “have made strategic overall planning for an unmanned mining area, among which unmanned transportation is an important part.”

In the pilot phase, TAGE Idriver will complete an autonomous retrofit of several Inner Mongolia North Hauler Joint Stock Co (NHL) NTE260 236 t class trucks at Qulong and establish a set of unmanned transport systems for open-pit mining, including a ‘vehicle-road-cloud.’ The comprehensive phase will apply autonomy to more than 150 mining trucks and other vehicles. The technology group says it will fully support the pilot project at Qulong, and “ensure the smooth landing of Zijin Mining and Tibet Dragon Copper driverless planning, and lay a good foundation for future large-scale application.”

Qulong has been in development to produce 100,000 t/d of ore (Phase 1) but with a planned expansion of Phase 1 operations to 150,000 t/d followed by a doubling to 300,000 t/d in Phase 2. Phase 1 production is now commencing and will last for eight years. Some 847 Mt of ore will be mined at Cu 0.42%, Mo 0.022%. The average stripping ratio will be 0.26 t/t. After completion of Phase 1 construction, the annual production will be 165,000 t of copper and 6,200 t of molybdenum. Phase 2 construction will be based on a daily ore processing volume of 300,000 t, and additional facilities including two processing plant lines one each for 150,000 t and tailings storage will be constructed. Construction of phase 2 will commence 7-8 years after production commencement of Phase 1. A total of 3.01 billion tonnes of ores with Cu 0.36% and Mo 0.021% will be utilised and the stripping ratio will be 0.49 t/t. After completion of construction, the annual production will be 263,000 t of copper and 13,000 t of molybdenum.

The Qulong mining area is located about 20 km southwest of Mozhugongka County in the Gangdise Mountain Range forming part of the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains which mainly consists of very steep terrain and glacier landforms. The average elevation of the whole mining area is over 5,000 m, and the highest mining area elevation reaches 5,519 m. The mining area is accessible by only one road through Mozhugongka County via which all mining materials need to pass.