Close to three-and-a-half years after commencing autonomous haulage operations at its Maules Creek coal operation in New South Wales, Australia, Whitehaven Coal is set to soon decide on whether to adopt the automated haulage system (AHS) or discontinue its pilot program, the company said in its just released FY2023 results.

Back in July 2018, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd and Whitehaven announced the two companies had come to an agreement to implement the first commercial Hitachi autonomous truck fleet at Maules Creek. The collaboration between the two companies entailed scoping the delivery and commissioning of phased AHS deployment for the fleet of Hitachi EH5000AC3 trucks at Maules Creek and the establishment of the physical and technological infrastructure to support AHS capability.

At that point, the two companies said the AHS solution would leverage the fleet management system provided by Hitachi’s Wenco International Mining Systems subsidiary, in addition to Hitachi Construction Machinery’s Smart Mining Truck with Advanced Vehicle Stabilisation Controls using Hitachi robotics, AC motor and drive control unit technologies. The Blockage management system from Hitachi’s railway business would also play a role in this solution, as would a sensing technology and navigation system developed in Hitachi Group’s automobile industry segment.

Initial on-site testing of Hitachi’s AHS took place in 2019 and the company ramped up these tests to reach the commercial deployment stage. A fleet of six EH5000 trucks and one excavator (an EX3600) then started operation in March 2020, focused on overburden.

In the years that have passed, the company has added more trucks to the program, with 28 of the company’s 300-t-payload EH5000s equipped with AHS as of the end of June 2023. This represents around 60% of the entire truck fleet.

Reporting in its annual results, Whitehaven said there were enhancements underway to improve efficiencies with the AHS system, especially focused on manned/unmanned interactions. It also said there were software upgrades scheduled for its current financial year (to June 30, 2024), while it planned to run two EX8000 excavator fleets with integrated manned coal and waste operations.

These actions followed a rise in operating costs across the company during the 2023 financial year. When it comes to Maules Creek, the company noted operational constraints driven by labour shortages, congestion arising from limited dumping locations while maintaining separation of manned and unmanned AHS fleets, as well as productivity impacts and disruptions from weather and in-pit water management.

“Maules Creek delivered run of mine coal production of 9.6 Mt in FY 2023, 15% below FY 2022,” the company added.

After several years of development, Whitehaven expects to make a decision on whether to fully embrace AHS operations at Maules Creek in its current financial year.

It said: “Development of the AHS will continue this year, which is expected to place continued constraints on production at Maules Creek. Depending on the success of this final year of AHS development, a decision will be made to adopt AHS at Maules Creek or discontinue the pilot program.”