Brazil’s leading mining contractor and emerging mining technology provider U&M Mineração e Construção S/A is marking a major milestone this month in its 50-year history: the granting of the patent for its conversion kit to apply autonomous operation to mining trucks.

The company states: “This technology, developed with passion and intelligence here at U&M, will redefine soil and rock handling operations, positioning us even further at the forefront of the industry. The journey for recognition began in 2019, with the application submitted to the INPI. After a very meticulous process, the patent was granted in June 2025, exactly in the same month that U&M celebrates its 50th anniversary.”

With this kit, U&M converts mining trucks, which were designed to be operated manually, into equipment that can also work autonomously. “For us, innovating means promoting greater safety, environmental sustainability, and, indeed, a true circular economy. Congratulations to everyone who was part of this journey! May this achievement be just the beginning of a great cycle of numerous innovations.”

IM spoke to Mauricio Casara, U&M Commercial and New Technologies Director about the offering. “Regarding the autonomous truck today we have five units running at one of the client mines we operate at. The plan is to run them until the end of the year and then formally commercialise it as a solution by Q1 2026. As a leading mining services provider, we plan not to sell the kit but rather to offer autonomy as a service.”

Casara added that the kit is OEM-agnostic, so U&M will be able use to it on any truck model. Today it is running on the CAT 777F but has also been developed for the CAT 777B/C and Komatsu 730E. Next up will be the Komatsu 930E and HD785 – this will then mean it has covered all of the main truck models in the U&M contract mining fleet. The bulk of the kit is the same for any truck, what changes are primarily the actuators for each specific model.