Rio Tinto to deploy world’s first fully autonomous water trucks at Gudai-Darri
June 21 2021 - 7:00PM
Business Wire
Rio Tinto will deploy 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 new vehicles, primarily used for
dust suppression on site, will enhance productivity by enabling
mine operations to digitally track water consumption and reduce
waste.
Developed through a successful collaboration with leading
equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar, three water trucks will join
Gudai-Darri’s fleet of Caterpillar heavy mobile equipment including
autonomous haul trucks and production drills. 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 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.
Once deployed, 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.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Simon Trott said “We have
worked closely with Caterpillar to safely and successfully deploy
the world’s first fully autonomous water truck. Water spraying is a
vital part of mining operations and this new technology will
improve productivity and reduce water usage across our
operations.
“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.”
Caterpillar Resource Industries Group President Denise Johnson
added “We are pleased to work with Rio Tinto to introduce the next
innovation in mining automation. Rio continues to pioneer
technology advancements and the water truck, working in conjunction
with the autonomous hauling trucks and drills, will further
accelerate Rio Tinto’s site performance. This is another important
step in our continual journey in autonomous solutions for our
customers.”
Notes for editors
Gudai-Darri is 100 per cent owned by Rio Tinto, is located
approximately 35 kilometres north-west of Rio Tinto’s Yandicoogina
mine site, and about 110 kilometres from the town of Newman in the
Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Construction continues to progress with production ramp-up on
track for early 2022. Once complete, the mine will have an annual
capacity of 43 million tonnes, underpinning production of the
Pilbara Blend, Rio Tinto’s flagship iron ore product.
Rio Tinto’s relationship with Caterpillar extends over 50 years.
Caterpillar was founded in 1925 and is an industry leading
manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and
natural gas engines as well as gas turbines and diesel-electric
locomotives.
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