IM 2019 June 19 | Page 5

THE LEADER VO LU M E 1 4 • N U M B E R 6 Robots rising Editorial Director Paul Moore B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc. Email: [email protected] Editor Daniel Gleeson BA (Hons) Email: [email protected] Editorial Board Professor Malcolm Scoble Robert E. Hallbauer Chair in Mining Engineering., University of BC, Vancouver Peter Knights Mining Professor Stephen Stone West One Management Perth, Western Australia Dr. Andrew M. Robertson President, Robertson GeoConsultants Vancouver, Canada. Ed McCord Project Consultant Caterpillar Global Mining, USA Jason Nitz Fleet Management & Dispatch Superintendent Newmont Mining Corporation, USA Dr Terry Mudder Managing Director, TIMES Ltd, USA Simon Tarbutt Consultant, Santiago, Chile Dr. Mike Daniel Comminution Process Consultant CMD Consulting Pty Ltd Advertising Sales: Phil Playle Email: [email protected] [phone] Publishing Assistant Lynne Lane Email: [email protected] Accounts Manager Nicola Shukla [email protected] Marketing Assistant Joanna English BA (Hons) [email protected] Circulation Assistant Jane Alter [email protected] Design and Production Trevor Sheldon Email: [email protected] Website: www.im-mining.com Annual Subscription Enquiries Emma Smith [email protected] Annual Subscription UK and Europe £160, €230 Rest of the world US$270 International Mining (ISSN No: 1747-146X) is published monthly by Team Publishing Ltd, GBR and is distributed in the USA by Asendia USA, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 and additional mailing offices. Periodicals postage paid at New Brunswick NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to International Mining, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 Founding Fathers John Chadwick B.Sc. Min Eng David Lansdowne Bob Warren Printed by The Manson Group, St Albans © Team Publishing Ltd 2019 ISSN 1747 -146X IM uses, as preference, SI units throughout, so, for example, all tonnes are metric unless otherwise stated. All dollars are US unless otherwise stated H aul truck automation is nothing new in the mining industry. Since the first commercial autonomous haulage system (AHS) was launched in 2008, the sector has been awash with mine site installation firsts and haulage milestones. Just last year, both major AHS operators, Cat and Komatsu, celebrated reaching the one- and two-billion-ton haulage marks, respectively, while Whitehaven Coal said its Maules Creek operation would receive Hitachi’s first commercial autonomous truck fleet. Despite these developments, which have been facilitated through adoption of the technology in the iron ore sector by Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and BHP, in particular, it’s hard to claim autonomous haulage has seen sector-wide adoption. Recently, there have been indicators this is about to change. It began late last year when two exploration/development companies published highlights of their economic studies. Following a number of bullet points detailing the initial capex requirements, projected NPV, throughput and production estimates for their flagship projects on the opening page of the companies’ press releases were innocuous mentions of automation. The companies were NGEx Resources and Filo Mining – both Lukas Lundin-owned companies – and the projects were Josemaría and Filo del Sol, respectively. Both projects, so the economic studies said, were set to take advantage of the latest in autonomous haul truck technologies. This admission was telling. During my time covering the mining industry – 11 years and counting – I had never seen mention of the adoption of AHS in a PEA, scoping study, PFS or FS summary. It may have been hidden in the full 100-plus-page report, which, in Canada, is usually filed some weeks later, but not in the two-to-three page study highlights. What this signalled is not only are miners becoming comfortable with the numerous benefits that come with automating haulage operations at large open-pit mine sites, investors are too. Instead of site-specific productivity and cost benefits, which some AHS proponents have readily provided, there appears to be a readily- accepted financial model that authors of economic studies are able to use in such reports. This thought may have occurred to me more than six months ago, but it re-emerged lately with other announcements; FMG saying it was in the initial stages of becoming the first iron ore operation in the world to have a fully- autonomous haulage fleet, Rio Tinto signing a pact with Caterpillar and WesTrac on automating its Koodaideri development and BHP signalling it plans on widespread haulage automation across its Western Australia Iron Ore and Queensland Coal operations. What a great time to be looking at the future of surface mining haulage and loading. On that exact subject, I would like to bring your attention to another avenue IM is pursuing to discuss and flesh out this topic. Late last year, our events division launched the inaugural Truck & Shovel conference, to take place in Singapore on September 19-20. This builds on more than eight years of experience holding a series of focused technology events around the globe – the latest being our hugely successful The Electric Mine event in Toronto, Canada – on top of decades of experience reporting on the latest in mine site haulage and loading. Covering everything from advanced fleet management systems and data analytics to monitor payload, tyre conditions, engine performance and fuel management; robotic refuelling; fatigue management; the use of alternative fuels; leveraging the best-in-class digitalisation tools; innovative truck design; and, of course, haulage automation, the event will provide unique insight into the future of global mining haulage and loading. Situated in Singapore and, therefore, tapping into the mining markets of Asia and Australasia and further afield, it will be a truly global gathering. We have already enlisted a stellar line-up of speakers that is growing bigger by the week. This includes Pioneer Solutions’ Christopher B Althausen on the challenges that come with mine truck design, ASI Mining’s Drew Larsen on the feasibility of incorporating autonomous mining, Graham Upton of Doron Precision Systems on effective simulator training, Scott Technology’s Steve Russell on robotic refuelling, OTR Global’s Tony Cutler on factoring tyres into the autonomous haulage equation, Bis Industries’ Brad Rogers on its 20-wheel Rexx dump truck, and SmartCap’s Daniel Bongers on effective fatigue monitoring. This is but a fraction of the talent set to take to the stage at the InterContinental (Middle Road) in less than four months’ time, with platinum sponsor Komatsu one of many OEMs expected to talk delegates through their future- proofed loading and haulage solutions. What’s clear to Paul Moore, Editorial Director, and myself is that this topic is worthy of more than a two-hour session in a three- or four-day mining technology event. It deserves our full attention and that is what we, at IM, will be providing in September. To hear more about the conference – including presenting and sponsorship opportunities – please feel free to get in contact with myself ([email protected]) or Paul ([email protected]). Daniel Gleeson Editor [email protected] JUNE 2019 | International Mining 3