WORLD PROSPECTS
to work on that to make the TCO more palatable for more of you.”
He said the development of Sandvik’ s own diesel-electric line of load and haul machines would help here, as would the continued expansion of BEV production in other industries outside of mining.“ There will be more scaling, more economies of scale in the supply chain that will benefit that TCO,” he said.
And new and existing deployments will benefit from more“ structured training” as well as a pledge of getting closer to customers to increase machine availability by providing systematic troubleshooting of every issue, from start-up through to steadystate operation.
Valkonen said the company is looking to address parts availability too, with Sandvik engineering teams’ ability to schedule planned maintenance intervals improving as the current crop of BEVs clock up hours on their way to mid-life or end-of-life milestones.
www. sandvik. com
Three million tonnes hauled autonomously by Volvo
In a new milestone achievement, Volvo Autonomous Solutions( V. A. S.) recently announced that it has hauled more than 3 Mt of material autonomously in the mining and quarrying segment. It says milestone demonstrates the ability of autonomous transportation to deliver consistent and reliable value to customers.
The material has been hauled across V. A. S.’ current and completed customer sites in Europe. Key customers include Brønnøy Kalk in Norway and Boliden Garpenberg in Sweden. The first autonomous hauling for Brønnøy Kalk started in 2023, with a milestone of 1 Mt hauled autonomously reached in 2025. In this Norwegian quarry, V. A. S. handles the flow of material from a
quarry to a crusher with nine autonomous trucks on a 5 km route through long tunnels with steep inclines.
In Boliden’ s Garpenberg mine in Sweden, autonomous trucks were hauling material from a quarry to a dynamic unloading area
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as part of a dam reinforcement project.“ Reaching three million tonnes hauled autonomously is an important milestone that demonstrates the maturity of our autonomous transport solution and the value it delivers in customer operations. This achievement reflects years of close collaboration between the Volvo Autonomous Solutions team and our customers to develop, deploy and scale autonomous hauling in real-world environments” says Ingo Stürmer, CTO at V. A. S.
The transport provided to V. A. S.’ mining and quarrying customers is Volvo’ s transport-as-a-service solution for confined areas, Autona / earth. The solution includes autonomy-enabled trucks integrated with the Volvo Virtual Driver, infrastructure, operations, uptime services and fleet management, enabling customers to implement autonomy without handling the technical complexities and without major equipment investment.
Benefits of Autona / earth include optimising transportation flows, enabling continuous operation, and improving safety by removing people from potentially hazardous environments.
The autonomous trucks are manufactured at Volvo Group’ s Säffle facility, enabling fast and consistent delivery that poises V. A. S. for faster customer implementation and meeting the growing demand for autonomous hauling. www. volvoautonomoussolutions. com
Ok Tedi introduces world’ s first ArcSAR Neo radar
PNG copper and gold mining major Ok Tedi Mining has announced the successful deployment and commissioning of the ArcSAR Neo slope stability monitoring radar system, it says marking an important
advance in how mine slopes are monitored and managed. Ok Tedi says it is the first company in the world to acquire and deploy two units of this next-generation radar technology.
The miner states:“ Developed by IDS
GeoRadar, a Hexagon company, the ArcSAR Neo is one of the most advanced slope monitoring systems available today. Its introduction demonstrates Ok Tedi’ s ongoing commitment to improve safety, embrace innovative technology, and promote continuous improvement in geotechnical risk management.”
The new system provides a clearer view of ground conditions, allow monitoring to continue during network interruptions, and can automatically adjust its position after being moved for blasting activities. These features are particularly valuable in Ok Tedi’ s complex mining environment, where pit operations is narrow and deeper and presenting ongoing challenges.
Since commissioning, Ok Tedi says the system has demonstrated significant improvements in data quality, reliability, and confidence in decision-making.“ Equipped with advanced processing technology and sophisticated monitoring software, the ArcSAR Neo substantially reduces common sources of interference, including atmospheric conditions and signal distortions. This has resulted in fewer false alarms and more eligible slope stability assessments.”
The radar’ s enhanced resolution enables the detection of very small ground movements at an earlier stage, allowing potential risks to be identified early and managed proactively. This capability strengthens Ok Tedi’ s ability to maintain safe, productive, and efficient mining operations while effectively managing geotechnical hazards.
Designed to perform in challenging environments, the ArcSAR Neo incorporates durability improvements that address historical issues such as water ingress, ensuring reliable operations in Ok Tedi’ s high rainfall conditions.
The system is supported by trained and certified Ok Tedi technicians responsible for ongoing maintenance and operation in accordance with industry best practice, with additional technical support from IDS GeoRadar specialists.
www. oktedi. com; https:// idsgeoradar. com /
International Mining | OCTOBER 2026