Rio Tinto set to deploy world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at Gudai-Darri iron ore mine

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Image credit: www.riotinto.com

Rio Tinto announced it would field the world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at its $2.6 billion Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The thee new water trucks, developed through a successful collaboration with leading equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar, will join Gudai-Darri’s fleet of Caterpillar heavy mobile equipment including autonomous haul trucks and production drills.

Rio said the new vehicles – primarily used for dust suppression on site – would enhance productivity by enabling mine operations to digitally track water consumption and reduce waste.

“The vehicle’s intelligent on-board system detects dry and dusty conditions on site, triggering the application of water to roads to keep them in good condition,” the company said in a statement.

Adertisement

“The refilling process is also completely automated with the water trucks recognising when it is time to refill, prompting them to self-drive to the water stand, park and top-up before returning to the field.

“They boast a 160,000-litre tank capacity, a 33 per cent increase on Rio Tinto’s largest water truck which has a tank capacity of 120,000-litres.”

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Simon Trott said the water trucks will be integrated into Rio Tinto’s existing Autonomous Haulage System which has been shown to significantly improve safety by reducing the risks associated with operators working around heavy machinery.

“Water spraying is a vital part of mining operations and this new technology will improve productivity and reduce water usage across our operations,” Mr Trott said.

“The continued expansion of our autonomous fleet helps improve safety and continues Rio Tinto’s efforts to adopt world-leading technology to enhance our operations and realise our vision of making Gudai-Darri one of the world’s most technologically advanced mines.”

Image credit: www.riotinto.com