Tag Archives: AHS

Europa hydrogen-powered prototype arrives at Christmas Creek as Liebherr, Fortescue eye zero emission AHS milestone

The first hydrogen-powered T 264 haul truck prototype, developed by Liebherr and Fortescue, has arrived on site at Fortescue’s Christmas Creek mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for testing in a real-life mining environment.

The site-based testing of this T 264 prototype, known as Europa, will take place over the coming months and will help inform Fortescue’s future fleet of zero emission haul trucks, Liebherr says.

Oliver Weiss, Executive Vice President of R&D, Engineering and Production, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS, said: “Liebherr and Fortescue are aligned in the belief that hydrogen and hydrogen carriers, such as ammonia, will play an important role in supporting the mine decarbonisation additional to electrification. What we learn from this hybrid truck will significantly shape and enhance our future development strategies for zero emission haulage. The integration of a Fortescue Zero battery into a Liebherr haul truck marks a huge milestone in the partnership between the two companies. It is fascinating to see how this cooperation helps to fast track our planned developments of new technology from ideas to demonstration and operation in the field.”

Europa contains a 1.6 MWh battery (developed in-house by Fortescue WAE) and 500 kW of fuel cells. The prototype can store over 380 kg of liquid hydrogen.

Dino Otranto, CEO, Fortescue Metals, added: “It’s fantastic to have our hydrogen-powered haul truck prototype now joining its battery-electric equivalent, Roadrunner, up at site.”

Once commissioned on site, Europa will be refuelled with liquid hydrogen from a gaseous and liquid hydrogen plant located at Fortescue’s Green Energy Hub at Christmas Creek.

Liebherr and Fortescue have been working together to develop zero-emission haul trucks since the collaboration was announced in 2022. Recently, the companies announced their collaboration to co-develop and validate a fully integrated Autonomous Haulage Solution.

Otranto added: “This deployment of Europa builds on our wider collaboration with Liebherr, where we are working together to develop and validate a fully integrated Autonomous Haulage Solution, which we’re aiming to be the first to operate in zero emission vehicles globally. To decarbonise mining you need a system solution, so this new operating system, which integrates a fleet management system and energy management, will be a game changer for Fortescue in reducing our carbon emissions.”

Komatsu and Rio Tinto herald delivery of 300th autonomous haul truck

Komatsu and Rio Tinto have reached a historic milestone, with Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia accepting delivery of its 300th autonomous haulage system (AHS) truck this month.

Komatsu and Rio Tinto initially signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2011 to deploy 150 AHS trucks to the Rio Tinto site, and, 13 years later, the partnership continues with both companies looking to accelerate the pace of mining automation.

Garry Povah, Komatsu Australia’s General Manager − Mining Automation, says this milestone gives both organisations the opportunity to reflect on the success of this groundbreaking partnership.

“We’ve led the industry in mining automation since 2008, when we commenced the Rio Tinto trial,” Povah said. “We delivered the first five AHS trucks to Rio mine sites in Australia in 2011, and it’s incredible to see how much the business has embraced this technology over the years, helping to make their mines safe, and also highly productive.

“AHS trucks are a crucial solution to both mine safety and addressing labour shortages in the sector. By removing human operators from potentially hazardous environments, AHS trucks significantly reduce the risk of accident and injury, and while enabling continuous operation that considerably impacts site productivity.”

The AHS fleet at Rio Tinto sites have completed 8.9 million operating hours and have moved over 4.8 billion tonnes of material, according to Povah – “all while improving their sites effective utilisation (EU%) by 15% – a remarkable feat.”

Currently, the 300 AHS trucks are spread across 10 of Rio Tinto’s Australian mine sites, and contribute to approximately 80% of the miner’s daily production capacity.

Jamie Sanders, Rio Tinto’s Global Head of Procurement, says: “This significant milestone is an excellent example of the partnership approach that Rio Tinto takes with its suppliers.

“Komatsu is a fantastic partner that has helped us improve our operations from a health and safety, and efficiency perspective,” Sanders says. “From the initial trial in 2008 to the work we do with Komatsu today, they have played a major role in helping us accelerate the automation of our mining processes. We look forward to continuing our collaboration into the future.”

The 300th delivery was marked with a special ‘Daruma doll’ ceremony, a Japanese ritual where one eye of the doll is painted to symbolise the setting of a goal and the beginning of a journey. Once the goal is successfully achieved, the second eye is painted

Pronto to demo autonomous haulage tech at Heidelberg’s Lake Bridgeport quarry

Pronto’s Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) is set to be deployed at Heidelberg Materials North America’s Lake Bridgeport quarry in Texas, USA, following a successful pilot of the technology with Heidelberg in 2023.

The pilot in question was conducted in partnership with Komatsu North America, with the next phase also set to be on a Komatsu platform to include the integration of Komatsu Smart Quarry technologies. The latter technologies will enable enhanced data collection and analysis, as well as improved safety and productivity, according to Pronto.

A Silicon Valley-based autonomy pioneer, Pronto has designed its AHS to be the simplest, fastest to deploy, easiest to use, and most cost-effective solution in the market. It has been deployed in multiple sites across the world. It leverages advanced sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence to autonomously operate haul trucks in complex and dynamic environments.

Last year, Pronto announced a partnership with RAICO SA, a leading mining and forestry equipment sales and rental services provider in Chile, to scale mining and forestry autonomy in the country, while the company has also worked extensively with Bell on integrating the technology into its trucks.

Pronto said: “Pronto’s AHS is the industry’s most cost-effective solution to addressing the challenge of recruiting skilled operatives, while also increasing the utilisation of haul truck assets.”

EACON banks more finance for automation mission as it nears 1,000 truck milestone

EACON says it has received another $44.5 million in Series C++ financing, led by Zijin Mining and Minxi Xinghang, enabling it to scale up its technology, product R&D and mining area operation management as part of its autonomous haulage developments.

Including series C and series C+ financing, EACON has now completed equity financing of $97.3 million within six months.

Founded in May 2018, EACON calls itself a leading autonomous haulage solution company that empowers the mining industry with the most advanced technology. By combining cutting-edge autonomous driving technology with strong on-site operational capabilities, EACON provides an OEM-agnostic, field-proven solution for autonomous haulage and zero-emission truck engineering, it says.

Currently, EACON has deployed autonomous truck fleets in four of China’s top 10 open-pit coal mines. As of February 2024, there are 304 trucks running autonomously with a total mileage of 6.5 million kilometers, ensuring safe operation for six consecutive years, it claims.

Zijin Mining, meanwhile, is a leading global multinational mining group mainly engaged in mining copper, gold, zinc, silver and lithium.

Chen Jinghe, Chairman of Zijin Mining Group, said the advancement of ‘carbon peak and carbon neutrality’ objectives have sparked significant transformation within the global mining sector, where autonomous driving technology, coupled with new energy trucks, are playing a pivotal role.

Zijin Mining will leverage its industry resources alongside EACON’s solution for its domestic and overseas mine sites, according to EACON.

Minxi Xinghang’s business scope spans mineral metallurgy, equity investment, site construction, new energy and materials, water conservancy and power, and transportation operations. Chairman, Li Jian, expressed aspirations to seize additional business prospects both domestically and internationally alongside EACON in the future.

EACON has been actively promoting the development of zero carbon mining. As of February 2024, EACON had deployed 245 battery-electric and hybrid-battery haulage trucks. In 2023, EACON developed a zero-emission, fully-autonomous haulage fleet for a sand and gravel aggregate mine in Fushan, Shandong. The fleet has reduced carbon emissions by over 2,200 t while operating safely and stably for the past 350 days, it says.

Zhang Lei, co-Founder and Chairman of EACON, stated that the successful completion of the $97.3 million financing reflects the positive recognition of EACON by the market and industry. Zijin has many mines located on plateaus, which are not only remote but also feature low oxygen levels due to the high altitude. This environment can cause discomfort for mining workers unaccustomed to it. EACON says it hopes to provide solutions for mining operations in these areas through autonomous driving technology in the future.

By the end of 2024, EACON expects the number of deployed autonomous trucks to reach 1,000. This fleet expansion is likely to come from EACON’s steadfast deployment of new energy autonomous driving vehicles, enabling mines to achieve sustainable low-carbon operations, as well as the retrofit of existing fleets, providing drive-by-wire control kits and solutions for autonomous driving systems. Currently, a drive-by-wire kit for a Komatsu HD785-7 truck is under design.

In 2024, EACON plans to launch a pilot project in Australia to expand its global market.

Giga Metals lines up trolley assist and autonomous haulage for Turnagain

Giga Metals Corp has announced the results of a prefeasibility study (PFS) on its majority-owned Turnagain nickel-cobalt project in British Columbia, Canada, that could use both trolley assist technology, as well as an autonomous haulage system.

Turnagain is owned by Hard Creek Nickel Corp, a joint venture owned by Giga Metals (85%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (15%).

The PFS outlined annual production averaging 37,288 t/y of nickel and cobalt in concentrate over the nominal full operating rate period (years 3 to 28) based on a 30-year project life with a strip ratio of 0.4 tonnes waste per tonne of ore

It also highlighted Scope 1+2 carbon intensity of less than 1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of Ni in concentrate.

The PFS builds on significant metallurgical and engineering studies and confirms the ability of Turnagain to produce high-quality nickel concentrate, Giga Metals said. It has been led and prepared by Tetra Tech Canada Inc along with input from industry expert consultants.

Giga Metals said: “The PFS demonstrates a long-life, large-scale project that will deliver high-grade nickel sulphide concentrate with no significant deleterious impurities, into commercially proven processes such as pyrometallurgical smelters or hydrometallurgical refining using pressure oxidation facilities.”

The project, Giga Metals says, has notable responsible mining characteristics beyond the low-carbon production including the following:

  • Sequestration of CO2 through naturally occurring mineral carbonation, transforming the tailings management facility into a permanent carbon mineralisation facility;
  • Safe and efficient tailings storage using centreline and downstream tailings dams in sub-aerial valley impoundment;
  • A near-neutral water balance; and
  • Being located in a well-regulated and experienced mining jurisdiction that has adopted First Nations’ rights to achieve informed consent during the permitting process.

The capital cost associated with the project has been slated as $1.89 billion with a post-tax IRR and NPV of 11.4% and $574 million at a long-term nickel price of $9.75/lb, with 78% payability for nickel in concentrate.

The Turnagain open-pit deposit will be developed using large haul trucks (227 t capacity), loaders, and electric shovels to minimise unit costs, the company says.

“Proven trolley-assist technology and autonomous haulage technology have been selected for reduced total costs and environmental footprint,” it added.

The mining operations are scheduled for a 28-year mine production period to support a 30-year processing plant operating period, and include the Horsetrail, Northwest and Duffy mineralized areas (collectively, the Horsetrail zone). The orebody is mined as a single main pit with five pushback phases through the life of mine and a small satellite pit for the Duffy zone. Overall main pit dimensions are approximately 2 km x 1.5 km.

The mine plan will deliver an annual processing plant feed rate of 32.85 Mt/y (90,000 t/d) after the installation of the second processing train in Year 1. The resource will be selectively mined with low-grade materials placed on a low-grade ore stockpile for later recovery. The maximum low-grade ore stockpile size has been reduced by 82% from the 2020 preliminary economic assessment to 34 Mt, which represents an approach that accounts for regulatory expectations to minimise stockpiling as well as practical mining operations.

Processing of Turnagain ore is conventional, Giga Metals says, with the processing plant consisting of the following:

  • A primary crusher followed by two trains of closed-circuit secondary crushing and HPGRs;
  • Two grinding trains, each comprising two closed-circuit ball mills in series;
  • Two rougher flotation trains, each comprising two banks of rougher cells;
  • Two trains of three-stage cleaning circuits plus cleaner-scavenger flotation;
  • Concentrate thickening and two trains of pressure filtration; and
  • Associated utility and reagent systems.

The processing plant will be installed in slightly offset stages to maximise the efficiency of construction and commissioning. The second processing train will be installed and commissioned parallel to the first train in the first full year of operations. The primary crusher is located adjacent to the mine to reduce haul distances and the crushed ore is conveyed to the processing facility located across the Turnagain River and above the tailings management facility. This allows for energy-efficient conveying of crushed ore and eliminates high-pressure pumping of slurries. All equipment selected is commercial-scale industry-standard, including mechanical flotation cells, the company added.

Turnagain concentrate is expected to be high grade, averaging 18% Ni and 1.1% Co, with low levels of deleterious impurities. Iron, sulphur and magnesium are expected to be within typical ranges for smelter operation, with nominally 30-35% Fe, 20-25% S and 4-6% Mg.

Mining and space sectors collaborate to solve the biggest challenges

A quiet revolution is underway in the mining sector as innovations and knowledge gleaned from space exploration help improve productivity, reduce emissions and create better outcomes for workers and communities, AROSE* Program Director, Michelle Keegan, explains.

The extreme demands of Space exploration and the drive for efficiency in the mining industry is creating new forms of cross-sector collaboration not seen before. The transfer of expertise and technology between these two sectors is also delivering solutions to some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

There are many commonalities between modern resource businesses and space exploration. Both require a focus on a smaller footprint, the delivery of zero-carbon emission operations and a reliance on substantial amounts of data to support decision making. They both operate in sensitive and challenging geographic environments and need to work in a way that reduces risks to their employees and the environments in which they operate.

The space industry provides a rich learning platform for the resources sector, for new approaches to increasingly difficult challenges. But the benefits of collaboration are not all one way. The space sector too is benefitting from the technological innovations and experience of miners here on Earth.

Technology developments in exploration precision, resource planning, advanced mineral detection sensors, in-situ extraction methodologies and advanced safety systems, present opportunities for insights and application in space.

Deep thinking around regulatory frameworks for responsible and sustainable space exploration and development will be enhanced through the experiences, both positive and negative, in terrestrial resource development.

Diversity of thinking

The opportunity to transfer technology and drive diversity of thinking from the space sector into mining will accelerate in the years ahead. Global demand for the critical minerals required to meet the world’s ambitious decarbonisation goals illustrates the need to leapfrog current approaches across the mining project lifecycle, from exploration through to production.

Rio Tinto CEO, Jakob Stausholm, recently described the global mining giant as a “technology company”.¹ In saying this he recognises Rio’s success in tackling the big challenges will rely on the miner’s ability to integrate new technologies and novel approaches to problem solving.

In a world where mining is becoming more complex, more difficult and more expensive, the ability to reduce costs (and emissions) and win the support of governments and local communities will rely on the ability to deploy technology to mine and process ore more efficiently and more safely, both for people and the environment.

Many post-carbon technologies, such as solar energy and battery storage systems, have been advanced through space exploration. Also, it is the systems engineering approach to project design, pioneered for space exploration, that increasingly is being adopted by terrestrial resources, technology and services companies.

Australia’s leading mining and oil and gas operators, as well as their major service companies, are aligning themselves with space-focussed businesses, researchers and industry organisations because they recognise the value of cross-sector collaboration. This new collaboration model is leading to greater technology and expertise transfer between space and resources. Miners also recognise the benefits of their best people being exposed to new knowledge and new ways of problem solving.

Trailblazer Lunar Rover project

The AROSE consortium was created for exactly this type of collaboration – to drive the growth of Australia’s space industry and bring together companies from resources and other industries, to leverage their collective capabilities and go after the toughest challenges in new ways. The Trailblazer Lunar Rover project is a first significant focal point for our space capable businesses and like-minded resources companies to pursue shared technology opportunities.

The AROSE Resources Advisory Board, established in 2022, creates an ongoing opportunity for the most innovative mining company leaders to provide input into the rover project, while taking learnings back to their businesses at the same time.

NASA understands well the benefits of this type of collaboration. Earlier this year AROSE participated in the first of a series of workshops with NASA and the United States Geological Service to look specifically at the areas of intersect between the resources and space sectors.

The mining industry is at a turning point in its decarbonisation journey. It has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build new capabilities that will lay the foundations for long-term, sustainably driven growth. With an aggressive timeline to zero emissions, a great opportunity for the mining industry to solve this tough challenge is the successful building of relationships with uncommon partners like those in the space sector.

However, a broader partnership opportunity exists between mining and space. The domains we see as offering the best collaboration opportunities between space and mining include:

  • Automation and robotics;
  • Remote operations and control;
  • Geoscience;
  • Satellite communications and imagery;
  • Artificial intelligence;
  • Systems engineering;
  • Waste minimisation;
  • Digital design, including user experience and user interface; and
  • Data analytics.

It is evident space and mining projects are approached very differently. The design of a resources project is most typically achieved by bringing together the experiences of past projects, with a focus on budget and schedule. Operating concept or operating philosophy often takes second priority and does not drive the project design. As a result, an integrated systems design is never achieved. And while available technology enables some level of electrification, automation and digital decision making, the value that could be derived is never fully realised.

Andrew Dempster, Director at Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at the University of NSW, says, “the high-level difference between the approaches of the two industries is that the mining (and oil and gas) decision points are all and always commercial, whereas the agency-driven space projects have more technical ‘system engineering’ decision criteria.”²

Dempster states “a fundamental observation about the difference between mining engineering and the space engineering disciplines (electrical, electronic, software, mechanical) is that the latter designs a product…while the former designs a business. It appears this is the fundamental disconnect”.

For many years the mining industry value chain has been unchallenged. Valuable resources are mined, processed then moved to a distribution point via rail or road and then shipped to a customer. However, there are several collaboration opportunities that could lead to mining companies rethinking value chain design, and these opportunities have the potential to alter the mining flowchart.

Perhaps the ideal approach we can use in mining is an integration of both approaches, and in this way adopt systems engineering thinking at the outset.

AI and data analytics

With an increasing need to build in automation, sensing and electrification, underpinned by digital platforms, the concept of operations needs an integrated approach more than ever. The growth in the application of AI and data analytics techniques to quickly interpret geological and physical properties of rock in mining has been exponential. As data streams become more complex and decision pressures more acute the demand for more sophisticated approaches to AI will only increase.

The space industry has had an even greater need to manage and interpret a plethora of complex data in real time to support mission critical decisions and there are obvious crossover opportunities to be explored in this arena.

With the hunt underway to locate resources on the moon or other planets to extend human life into outer space, the opportunity exists for mining technology companies to assist with rock knowledge acquisition and mineralogical interpretation of data required for successful space exploration.

Robotics and automation

The application of robotics and automation is expanding in the resources sector with the drive to remove people from harm and increase efficiency and precision in the mining process. Mining technology company IMDEX was motivated to partner with AROSE as a way of bringing space insights to the development of its BLAST DOG technology (pictured below), an automated logging system that collects detailed geoscience data from blast holes.

Major challenges IMDEX faced during the BLAST DOG development phase included: autonomous navigation over rough terrain; locating and positioning accurately over a blast hole; lowering and retrieving a sensitive, high-tech probe down the hole; and managing the transfer of high volumes of data through remote communication systems. IMDEX is refining its approach based on insights gleaned from companies involved in addressing these same challenges in space.

The recent affiliate agreement between AROSE and the Robotics Australia Group will increase this application across the industry.

Autonomous vehicles

In mining, the scale of operation has been linear until recently. If you wanted to increase mining output, you purchased more large equipment. Then came the introduction of fleet automation technologies, developed first by Caterpillar in 1996 and refined in partnership with Rio Tinto and other early adopters in the early 2000s.

Of the 1.5 million vehicles in use across heavy industry globally, only 1,200 vehicles are autonomous.³ Australia has the largest fleet of autonomous haul trucks in the world, with more than 700 in operation across 25 mines.4 Clearly the market potential is enormous.

These remotely operated technologies are challenging the need for ever larger truck sizes. The largest autonomous truck today might be the last of its kind as mining organisations consider what the ‘right size’ truck is for the future.

Smaller size trucks would allow miners to fully electrify their operations much sooner. In addition to the environmental benefits, there are operational and cost benefits that support this approach. The large autonomous trucks currently in use need enormous bi-directional roads. Reducing the size of mining vehicles can have a direct impact on strip ratios, and with a mine that can be up to 1 km deep, the roads that service the mine contribute significantly to the overall footprint.

While every mine design is different, there is a growing body of evidence that smaller autonomous vehicles can lower mine development costs (narrower benches, steeper pits, etc), speed operations and boost overall fleet utilisation.

The space industry has similar challenges with its autonomous vehicles. Where the mining industry is an expert at moving billions of tonnes of material by operating hundreds of autonomous vehicles all year round, the space industry today has only operated 11 semi-autonomous vehicles on a planetary body. This observation isn’t to diminish the significant achievement, as space exploration is extremely difficult, but to highlight the convergence of terrestrial and space objectives. For the space industry to perform in-situ resource utilisation activities anywhere off-earth, there is an opportunity to adopt learnings from the mining industry.

Likewise, the mining industry is moving towards smaller more specific/targeted mining practices and can learn from space industry experience in developing small-scale highly efficient and robust robotic solutions.

The space industry also provides a rich learning platform for the resources sector for new approaches to minimise and utilise the waste stream, with the ultimate goal of zero waste mining operations.

The companies which provide technology and services to the mining majors also realise they need to diversify their offering to include space. This ‘full stack’ approach may be a matter of business survival in a competitive future.

Remote operations specialist Fugro is a leader in this area. Fugro’s new SpAARC (Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control) remote operations centre in Perth, Western Australia, has been specifically designed to share facilities between its established oil and gas and mining business and its fledgling space offering.

Fugro’s new SpAARC remote operations centre in Perth, Western Australia, has been specifically designed to share facilities between its established oil and gas and mining business and its fledgling space offering

Fugro and Nova Systems are leading the AROSE consortium’s Trailblazer Lunar Rover design team. Woodside Energy and Rio Tinto are also supporting the AROSE Trailblazer effort by providing knowledge transfer of their terrestrial robotic and automation capabilities.

Woodside has also formed a collaboration with NASA on robotics and remote operations. NASA sees Woodside as a great test bed of robotics in harsh environments, as Woodside is doing similar tasks at its operations which NASA envisages doing on the Moon and Mars.5

The largest challenges facing the mining industry are the need to get to zero emissions, the need to get to zero harm and zero waste. There’s urgency in the call to solve all of these. It is now well-recognised that we need more collaboration not just within our sector, but across sectors. With the Moon to Mars program now underway, and the Trailblazer Lunar Rover program in place, this really is a tangible point in time where things are moving forward, a tangible point where people realise that this isn’t a dream, this is a reality.

* AROSE (Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth) is an industry-led not-for-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring Australia is the trusted leader in Remote Operations science, technology and services on Earth and in Space.


Sources:
1. ‘Solving our largest on earth challenges through the benefit of technology transfer between space and mining,’ Michelle Keegan, Gavin Gillett, Clytie Dangar, World Mining Congress 2023.

References
1. ‘We’re a tech company’: Rio boss draws on lessons of history, Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2023. https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/we-re-a-tech-company-rio-boss-draws-on-lessons-of-history-20230801-p5dt2p
2. Integrating the approaches to space and mining project life cycles, Andrew Dempster, 5th International Future Mining Conference 2021. https://www.ausimm.com/publications/conference-proceedings/fifth-international-future-mining-conference-2021/integrating-the-approaches-to-space-and-mining-project-life-cycles/
3. No swarming yet in trillion-dollar market, Investmets, 4 August 2023. https://www.investmets.com/no-swarming-yet-in-trillion-dollar-market/
4. Global autonomous mining truck population tops thousand mark, to reach 1,800 by 2025, Mining.com, 18 May 2022. https://www.mining.com/global-autonomous-mining-truck-population-tops-thousand-mark-to-reach-1800-by-2025-report/
5. https://cciwa.com/business-toolbox/growth/why-woodsides-partnership-with-nasa-is-a-win-win/

Whitehaven Coal moves into final year of AHS development at Maules Creek

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.”

Hexagon buys HARD-LINE, bringing scale to interoperable autonomy puzzle

Hexagon has agreed to acquire Canada-based tele-remote operations leader HARD-LINE, bringing into its offering all the elements it needs to compete in the autonomous haulage system (AHS) space.

At HxGN LIVE Global 2023 in Las Vegas last month, Hexagon’s Mining division said it was enhancing its relationship with the company, building on a previous distribution agreement the two companies announced back in September 2021.

Now, the two companies have agreed to combine their expertise to achieve their ultimate autonomy goals.

Speaking to IM about the deal, Nick Hare, President, Hexagon’s Mining division, said: “It’s an absolute win for all stakeholders. It is good for us as it enables us to deliver on both safety and autonomy, core to our mission, with HARD-LINE’s considerable experience filling in technology gaps in remote control and its considerable library of interfaces on vehicle by-wire. It’s good for HARD-LINE, giving them access to our sales, distribution and support base in 50 different countries; and, most importantly, it is good for the customers, ensuring that they have an interoperable, OEM-independent partner to rely on.”

Walter Siggelkow, President of HARD-LINE, said he saw the combination of HARD-LINE’s mine operator market knowledge and Hexagon’s suite of products and global presence providing the “world’s first truly integrated autonomous solution”.

He told IM: “Hexagon and HARD-LINE share a common vision that autonomy can be accomplished without starting over. The advanced technologies to extend this capital investment is now available. We are completely confident that this is a perfect fit.”

HARD-LINE says it has developed “by-wire vehicle control solutions” for more than 200 equipment models covering several OEMs over the last 27 years, with more than 3,000 conversions of its platform completed to date, including its renowned TeleOp system. On top of its remote-control solutions, it also provides related network infrastructure to enable the tele-remote operation of heavy machinery from a secure control station on the surface or underground, regardless of distance.

Hexagon, meanwhile, has a significant autonomy stack, including the HxGN Autonomous Mining Mission Manager solution choreographing the movement of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, and mine production activities through one interface; the World Perception solution to enable object detection, operator vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person awareness; as well as on-board infrastructure such as sensors and antenna.

Hare estimates Hexagon is already the biggest provider of autonomy solutions for off-road heavy industry, but he believes this latest deal will accelerate the realisation of its autonomy ambitions in mining: providing a scalable automation platform that all mining companies can use and grow with.

“Now we have the ability to move the machines, this creates a complete OEM independent solution from one partner,” he said. “You will start to see us go head-to-head on most projects with other AHS providers. The key – and we feel the differentiator for customers – is that we will be matching this with our ability to safely deliver customer success.

“A lot of AHS implementations have enabled companies to move more tonnes, but the return on investment hasn’t always been there. We intend to change that.”

The potential impact Hexagon can make on the AHS market from acquiring HARD-LINE is inevitably the highlight of this deal, but it also has positive ramifications for its latest product offerings, including HxGN Underground Mining, HxGN Autonomous Mining and the HxGN MineProtect solutions.

Hare implied the HARD-LINE platform – when integrated with the Minnovare drilling solutions the company recently acquired – could also see it expand into autonomous underground drilling solutions.

Hexagon’s Mining division highlights Power of One progress with new autonomous solutions launch

Hexagon’s Mining division, on the day HxGN LIVE Global 2023 kicks off in Las Vegas, has introduced a new autonomous portfolio to its planning, operations and safety technology portfolios, signalling its intent to continue to solve the mining industry’s biggest challenges.

HxGN Autonomous Mining is a portfolio that protects people and equipment while addressing the challenges of operational productivity and decarbonisation, Hexagon’s Mining division says.

“By helping to autonomously manage vehicle traffic, improve fleet situation awareness and introduce drill automation, the new portfolio empowers mines to future-proof operations with the foundational building blocks of full operational autonomy,” it explained.

These building blocks include tools providing autonomous world perception, path planning in both manned driver-assist and autonomous operation, and machine intervention up through control on mining vehicles and drills primarily in open-pit environments and haulage operations.

HxGN Autonomous Mining unites Hexagon’s Power of One hardware with its core computing platform, connecting a unique ecosystem of sensors and software, according to the company. “The portfolio can help mines to succeed today while preparing for tomorrow,” Andrew Crose, Vice President, Autonomous Mining, Hexagon’s Mining division, said.

The Power of One platform is a holistic, life-of-mine smart solution connecting sensors, software, in-field apps and cloudware. The aim is to connect the mine to the boardroom via a single on-board ecosystem comprising a smart computer, antenna and display.

Nick Hare, President of Hexagon’s Mining division, told IM on the side lines of the Las Vegas event, hosted at Caesar’s Forum, that the company has rapidly moved from concept to reality with the Power of One platform.

He explained: “At MINExpo 2021, we announced the Power of One concept. Last year at HxGN LIVE Global, we told everyone it was now available and ready to implement. This year, we’re able to talk about real deployments that will start from the next quarter.

“We’ve moved from concept to deployment in just under two years, defying the supply chain issues that have affected everyone in this industry.”

The building blocks that are part of HxGN Autonomous Mining include the World Perception suite of detection solutions; mining’s first Level-9 collision avoidance technology, Hexagon’s collision intervention system, HxGN MineProtect Vehicle Intervention System; HxGN MineOperate Reverse Assist for optimised shovel and truck spotting; HxGN Autonomous Mining VIS Analytics to analyse and compare information such as locations, equipment and more; the intuitive drill automation platform, HxGN Autonomous Mining Drill Assist; HxGN Autonomous Mining Platooning Solutions to maximise the safety of ore haulage, boost cost-efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; and HxGN Autonomous Mining Mission Manager Solution to empower pit controllers and dispatchers to optimise the movement of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, and mine production activities through one interface.

The company’s “unparalleled” technology stack – as Crose refers to it – can currently automate around 80% of the processes involved in open-pit haulage, according to Hare.

In an on-the-road scenario, the company can already automate the majority of functions, as it is proving out with Mineral Resources Ltd on its autonomous road train project. In pit haulage, it is also working on an autonomous haulage system (AHS) solution to compete with the likes of Caterpillar and Komatsu’s own AHS platforms. Parts of this are likely to be seen operating later this year. In terms of autonomous drilling, the company is getting even closer to the fully-autonomous benchmark through work it is carrying out with Phoenix Drill Control.

While not all Power of One users will leverage the entire technology stack from the off, Hare said he is expecting many companies to quickly add building blocks to their deployments as they familiarise themselves with the platform.

“We have significantly improved upon the industry standard when it comes to the Power of One and this new automation platform,” he said. “For example, when integrating fleet management – under our HxGN MineOperate solution – and collision avoidance (the HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System within the World Perception Suite), we can reduce the number of interfaces operators have to interact with. Depending on the scenario, we can highlight an optimised route to the crusher for a truck or make them aware of an impending collision on just one screen. This significantly improves the user experience, reduces the likelihood of incidents and improves productivity.”

Another significant enhancement the company has achieved with its Power of One platform is consolidating the numerous antenna fitted to open-pit trucks into a single antenna able to receive and, depending on the network and software settings, process the same amount of information.

“From a perception perspective, we have also moved up the tiers with our sensor solutions, going from a 2D radar-based system as was used for our initial collision avoidance systems to a 4D radar-based platform able to distinguish between people, berms, trucks, light vehicles, etc,” Hare said.

Add to this upgraded software to process all the valuable data coming off the sensor and the company believes it now has as close to an off-the-shelf commercial solution as can currently be obtained.

The platform is expected to bring immediate productivity benefits for customers – Crose mentions better blast outcomes with drilling automation to improved equipment performance and production via autonomously managed vehicle movement – but the reduction in hardware is also expected to lead to significant cost savings for clients.

“We are confident that this portfolio, under the auspices of the Power of One platform, will provide return on investment for clients,” Hare said. “While it is being integrated into a standardised offering that aids deployment cost and time, the starting point for every project is how to solve the problems the mining client is experiencing. We will take time to understand what issues they are having on site and ensure the system rules and algorithms are built in such a way as to prioritise solving these. At the same time, we will highlight as many opportunities to optimise their operations as we can.

“This is how we ensure that value is generated immediately from day one.”

Hexagon’s Mining division also introduced HxGN Underground Mining, an integrated sensor-software portfolio built for the unique challenges of underground environments, at the same event.

Komatsu highlights interoperability strategy at mine automation forum

Mining automation enables key processes on mine sites such as controlling a machine remotely, automating multiple types of equipment across a fleet or implementing a completely autonomous fleet of haul trucks that can operate around the clock. To share its latest automation advancements, Komatsu recently hosted customers and distributors for an Automation Global User Forum at the company’s Arizona Proving Grounds (AZPG) facility in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

With an emphasis on Komatsu’s interoperability strategy, the event highlighted the company’s equipment automation and system technology roadmaps as well as customer-presented case studies illustrating the high value autonomous haulage has brought to their mining operations and their potential paths to an automated mine site, Komatsu said. Participants also got a first look at an Autonomous Light Vehicle (ALV) that Komatsu and Toyota are jointly developing – as was announced earlier this week.

Komatsu’s partnership with Toyota is reflective of the company’s interoperability strategy for its customers’ large mining fleets. Receiving directional commands from Komatsu’s Autonomous Haulage System (AHS), one or more Toyota ALVs can integrate with and operate alongside a Komatsu autonomous haulage fleet. Integration of this kind can help improve safety and productivity in an automated mine by reducing interactions with manually operated vehicles, it says.

The forum was attended by customers representing over 20 mine sites around the world, including mines focused on the production of copper, iron ore, metallurgical coal and oil sands.

Showcasing the use and the value cases for AHS, forum attendees shared how they have used the system in multiple ways to optimise for the specific needs of their mines, based on climate and terrain. Use cases included:

  • Mountaintop mining;
  • Mining in ice/snow;
  • High altitude mining; and
  • High temperature/desert mining.

Martin Cavassa, Manager, Automation Business Development for Komatsu, said: “Interoperability is the cornerstone of our mining automation strategy. This forum was an excellent opportunity to showcase our developments in automation as well as what we envision for the future of mining.”

Komatsu’s concept for the automated mine of the future includes a range of options from teleoperation and task-level automation to a fully autonomous mine, including automation of the following common mining tasks:

  • Loading;
  • Hauling;
  • Drilling;
  • Dozing;
  • Grading; and
  • Watering

Since Komatsu launched the world’s first commercial application of an AHS in 2008, the company has deployed over 650 trucks at 22 sites in five countries (as of May 2023). Combined, Komatsu’s AHS customers have moved over 6.2 billion metric tonnes of material, it says.