Komatsu Ltd has announced that the number of commercial deployments of its Komatsu FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage System (AHS), on mining trucks has surpassed 700 as of February 2024.

This includes over 100 units of the 980E-AT, one of the world’s largest ultra-class dump trucks, capable of carrying 400 tons. The 700th AHS truck was deployed at Glencore’s Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile, which introduced Komatsu AHS for the first time in November 2023.

This milestone marks a significant achievement for Komatsu, which began AHS trials in 2005 at Codelco’s Radomiro Tomic in Chile and achieved the world’s first commercial AHS deployment  in January 2008 at Codelco’s Gaby mine in Chile.

Since then, Komatsu has deployed AHS at 23 mine sites in five countries, with AHS trucks hauling seven and half billion metric tons of materials by the end of February 2024.

“Our first autonomous trucks are already operating in the region, which means the culmination of the first stage of this great project, which we could potentially – as Copper Department and scale it later to other Glencore assets, so that other sites have the benefit of what is being conducted here today,” said Abraham Chahuán, South America Copper Assets Director, Glencore.

“We express our profound gratitude to Glencore‘s invaluable partnership spirit, which leads successful AHS deployment at Lomas Bayas copper mine. FrontRunner is bringing safer, more reliable and consistent mine operations while lowering operating costs and increasing production. Komatsu continues to be committed to providing quality solutions with our customers through One Komatsu team,” said Masayuki Moriyama, President of Komatsu’s Mining Business Division.

Looking ahead, Komatsu says it remains committed to helping customers achieve their goals, such as improving safety and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, through the utilisation of AHS technology. This commitment is reflected in Komatsu’s mid-term management plan, ‘DANTOTSU Value – Together, to ‘The Next’ for sustainable growth,’ which defines DANTOTSU Value as customer value creation that generates a positive cycle of improvement in earnings and ESG resolutions.

Through DANTOTSU Value, Komatsu says it will strive to create new values in order to take steady steps forward to the next stage for the workplace of the future and pass on a sustainable future to the next generation.