Mineral Resources (MinRes) will deploy a fleet of 120 fully autonomous road trains equipped with an autonomous haulage solution provided by specialists Hexagon AB under a landmark agreement.
The world’s first fully autonomous road trains have been designed and developed for MinRes’ flagship Onslow Iron project in Western Australia.
The vehicles combine technological expertise from Hexagon’s Autonomous Solutions with MinRes’ operational knowledge and promise enormous benefits.
This includes removing the risk of driver fatigue, increasing fleet availability, lowering operating costs and reducing fuel use and emissions.
A team of operators will control the fleet from a central operating centre in Onslow. MinRes is also developing an artificial intelligence-powered monitoring system.
Autonomous road trains form an essential part of the cost-effective and dust-free supply chain that will unlock deposits in the West Pilbara that would otherwise remain undeveloped.
Each triple-trailer vehicle will carry 330 tonnes of iron ore about 150km on a dedicated private haul road from the Ken’s Bore mine site to the Port of Ashburton.
Safety is at the forefront of the project’s design. Grade separation will ensure there is no interaction between the autonomous road trains operating on the haul road and vehicles using public roads.
Ore will be transported to a 220,000-tonne enclosed, negative pressure storage facility at the port. From there, 20,000-tonne capacity transhippers will move the ore to cape-size carriers 40 kilometers off the coast.
Testing of autonomous road trains has been progressing at MinRes’ Yilgarn iron ore operations since late 2021 ahead of the technology’s deployment at Onslow Iron.
The project, which is the cornerstone of MinRes’ strategy to deliver low-cost, long-life iron ore operations, will ship about 35 million tonnes of iron ore per year from mid-2024.
MinRes Chief Executive, Mining Services Mike Grey said: “We’re excited to cement our partnership with Hexagon to deliver the world’s first fleet of autonomous road trains, which will be an essential part of Onslow Iron’s safe, efficient and dust-free solution for hauling ore.
“Automation will remove the risk of driver fatigue, lower operating costs and reduce fuel use and emissions. There’s enormous potential for these vehicles to transform mining across the world.”
Hexagon President and CEO Paolo Guglielmini added: “At Hexagon, we see autonomy as a way to vastly improve our world.
“Today’s agreement with MinRes will ensure that transport activities will be safer, more sustainable, and more productive. I’m excited to see how similar solutions can be applied in other markets such as agriculture and heavy industry.”
