An important achievement was marked by Codelco’s Division Gabriela Mistral recently, when the copper mine reached 1,000 Mt of ore transported with autonomous haul trucks – a great example of longevity in AHS, with the fleet initially deployed from 2008.

The mine, often referred to as Gaby, was the world’s first mine with a 100% autonomous truck fleet, made up of 20 Komatsu 320 ton class 930E-4 trucks which, thanks to regular updates of the FrontRunner AHS itself, along with Modular Mining’s Dispatch FMS and ProVision machine guidance, continues to generate safe interactions between autonomous and manned equipment – while at the same time optimising and maximising production with effective truck management and improved navigation.

This milestone also stands out for having being achieved without fatalities or serious accidents. Codelco says it has also had the right strategies in place over the years to maintain the equipment, ensure efficiency of the total operation combined with teamwork that has been characterised by commitment and responsible practices. Codelco also released some figures from the period 2015 to present – an effective production rate over the fleet lifetime of 700 t/h, consuming 166 l/h of diesel, 8,886 hours average tyre life and 82% availability.