New milestone reached on automation journey

Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia have accepted delivery of their 300th autonomous haulage system AHS) truck from Komatsu.

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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 is still strong with both companies looking to accelerate the pace of mining automation.

Komatsu Australia's General Manager Mining Automation, Garry Povah, said 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," he 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.