MinRes road trains equipped with Hexagon’s autonomous haulage solution gain momentum.
On the heels of announcing its new autonomous mining portfolio, Hexagon will be making its presence known at the 2023 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC).
Robert Daw, chief technology officer, Hexagon’s Mining division, will take the stage to discuss the company’s partnership with Mineral Resources (MinRes).
The partnership began in late 2021 and involves Hexagon in the development of an autonomous road train solution for the MinRes haulage fleet, starting in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, and then beyond.
In July this year, MinRes announced that it would deploy a fleet of 120 road trains equipped with the autonomous haulage solution developed by Hexagon at its Onslow iron project.
“At IMARC, I will focus on how automation is enabling the mining industry to access remote orebodies, and the future of automation and how it will change the industry for the better,” Daw told Australian Mining.
“The narrative has changed what autonomy means to mining. It’s not about replacing people; it’s about removing them from dangerous areas and utilising their skills elsewhere.”
Autonomous mining is in the early stages of evolution, and Daw is excited to see what it can unlock.
“There are more than 1000 autonomous vehicles in mining today; however, we as an industry can continue to think further outside the box,” he said
“We’re starting to see opportunities such as accessing other remote orebodies that previously were never economical.
“It should not be about day-to-day truck driving in a traditional sense. It really is about starting to understand, ‘What does an autonomous mining operation look like, and how does this benefit miners and mines?’”
Hexagon believes autonomy can bring a range of benefits, and those benefits are present in its work with MinRes.
“One of the major benefits is removing people from unsafe environments and manual labour areas,” Daw said.
“Another benefit is the economics and the business opportunity that mining companies have, so how autonomy can actually change business models.
“With some of these uneconomical remote pits, we know the minerals are in the ground but they just aren’t quite feasible to access, and autonomous technologies will unlock some of that potential. There is also an environmental side of autonomy that we’re focusing on, which is the reduction of carbon emissions through better utilisation of our equipment.”
To that end, the autonomous road train configuration created by Hexagon is a world-first on this scale.
“The ability to see a road train that’s pulling over 300 tonnes, three trailers over a 120km road, and to be able to take that from a mine site to port without having to put in any infrastructure like conveyors or rail – it’s just a basic road – is exciting,” Daw said. “All of these solutions and expertise come together to create that world-first. We’re not aware of anywhere else that has these types of road trains operating 24–7, pulling this quantity of material on a 365-day basis.”
Since the inception of the partnership, Hexagon and MinRes have shared a strong working relationship.
“They’ve been a great partner for us in terms of being able to work collaboratively on the road train itself, from access to vehicle sand sites to testing to working with people who are equally dedicated to success,” Daw said. “Hexagon couldn’t have achieved this successful milestone without MinRes and vice versa.”
This feature appeared in the October 2023 issue of Australian Mining.