AUTOMATION
carry 227 t of payload. But the range of truck
models is expanding. Caterpillar has developed
and is deploying autonomous Cat 797F (363 t
payload) and Cat 789D (181 t payload) trucks. To
serve customers with mixed fleets, Caterpillar
has developed a retrofit kit for another brand of
trucks. The retrofit equips the trucks to work
autonomously within Command for hauling.
The same month, Komatsu America Corp
announced on November 15 that the FrontRunner
Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) had
achieved the unprecedented milestone of more
than 2 billion tons of surface material moved
autonomously. The company states that the
FrontRunner system has now hauled more than
all other commercial mining autonomous
haulage systems combined.
Since its first commercial deployment in 2008
at Codelco’s Gabriela Mistral (Gaby) copper mine
in Chile (after a trial at Radomiro Tomic), “the
FrontRunner AHS has experienced exponential
growth in cumulative production, breaking the
one billion tons mark in 2016 and the 1.5 billion
tons mark in late 2017.” This has been
accomplished with more than 130 trucks in
operation to date. An additional 150 trucks are
being deployed to the Canadian oil sands. Aside
from the mentioned Chilean copper operations,
the autonomous Komatsu fleet includes 830Es,
930Es and 980Es running at Rio Tinto iron ore
operations and Suncor oil sands operations.
“AHS continues to play an increasingly crucial
role in effective mine management as more and
more operations transition from manned to
unmanned fleets,” said Dan Funcannon, VP/GM,
Large Mining Truck Division, Komatsu America. “As
the demand for autonomous systems grows,
Komatsu will continue raising the bar in an effort
to help mines provide safer working environments,
maximise production, and reduce operating costs.”
To underscore the company’s commitment to
progress, Komatsu plans to enhance the AHS’
mixed-operation functions, enabling manned
trucks of any make to interoperate with Komatsu
AHS trucks in a blended operation. Komatsu is
also working with industry stakeholders towards
standardisation of interoperability between
Komatsu and non-Komatsu autonomous vehicles,
to improve safety and efficiency at customer
operations.
capacity 930E trucks working autonomously
alongside the mine’s fleet of autonomous Cat
trucks.
Craig Watkins, MineStar Solutions Manager,
said: “Our interoperability initiative is driven by
mining companies’ goals of making best use of
their existing fleets.
“The Cat system makes it possible to operate
different brands and sizes of trucks as well as
manned trucks and autonomous trucks in the
same space. Dynamic truck assignment
optimises productivity. Our system also offers
the flexibility to scale up fleet size to meet the
mine’s needs.”
MineStar Command for hauling also allows
trucks, no matter the payload or manufacturer, to
operate at their full capabilities.
Commercial testing of Hitachi
autonomous fleet starts at
Whitehaven Coal
Whitehaven Coal confirmed in its half-year (H2
2018) results that initial on-site testing of
Hitachi’s autonomous truck haulage system has
commenced at the company’s Maules Creek coal
mine in northwest New South Wales, Australia.
The two companies, in July 2018, published an
official announcement of the automation tie-up,
which entailed scoping the delivery and
commissioning of phased Autonomous Haulage
System (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.
In Whitehaven’s six-month results
presentation, today, it said: “Work continues with
Hitachi on the autonomous truck haulage system
with initial on-site testing having commenced.”
Maules Creek produced 6.2 Mt of run of mine
coal in the six months to end-December and is
expected to meet guidance of 11.8-12.2 Mt ROM
coal for the full year to end-June, 2019, according
to Whitehaven.
The company also said the negative cost
effects of longer hauls and increased elevation at
Maules Creek – as the working area continues to
18 International Mining | APRIL 2019
Komatsu achieves AHS and LTE first
Komatsu America Corp’s FrontRunner
autonomous haulage system (AHS) recently
achieved a mining industry first, after the system
qualified to operate on private long-term
evolution (LTE) mobile broadband technology.
This makes it the sector’s first AHS enabled to
run on private LTE in commercial operations,
paving the way for ultra-high system availability
and reliability, while adhering to Komatsu’s
renowned safety standards, the company said.
Komatsu’s FrontRunner AHS allows unmanned
operation of ultra-class mining trucks. It delivers
significant benefits, including reduced worker
exposure to harm, protocols designed to
constantly improve mine-site safety, reduced
operating costs, and increased productivity and
efficiency. The company completed a year-long
qualification programme at the company’s
proving grounds in Tucson, Arizona, conducting
extensive testing of the FrontRunner AHS on
Nokia’s Future X infrastructure, a leading
provider of private LTE communication solutions
for the mining industry.
Komatsu said: “Mining operators demand
wireless networks with high-availability,
seamless mobility, world-class quality of service,
and the ability to support multiple applications
and services simultaneously. Accordingly, the
industry is moving away from less predictable
wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, and towards
private LTE networks, that improve security,
capacity, and overall performance within a multi-
application environment.”
Luiz Steinberg, Komatsu Global Officer and
President/CEO of Modular Mining Systems, said:
“This industry milestone represents a key step in
Komatsu’s exploration of private LTE and
highlights Nokia’s role as the leading global
supplier of mission-critical solutions and services
for the mining industry.”
The OEM agnostics
Going mixed and retro
Caterpillar recently said it is putting its
commitment to retrofit solutions and mixed-fleet
interoperability into practice by installing Cat ®
MineStar™ Command for hauling technology on
Komatsu 930E mining trucks in the Pilbara of
Western Australia.
The first commercial installation of the
automation retrofit package was completed bt
end-2018, with 24 of the retrofitted, 290 t
be opened up – would be reversed in the medium
term with “in-pit dumping, cast blasting and with
the introduction of AHS”.
A Hitachi EH5000AC3, automated versions of
which are being rolled out at Whitehaven Coal
Maules Creek
The three market leaders here
are arguably Australia’s RCT,
Russia’s VIST Group (see
separate interviews) and the US
company ASI Mining. In 2018,
Epiroc acquired a minority share
of 34% in ASI, giving it a unique
status of alignment with a major
OEM but retaining its agnostic
capability and independence.
The expectation is that the deal
will allow Epiroc to offer mining customers
automation, whether new or retrofit on older
machines or other non Epiroc brands of surface