Mining giant Rio Tinto will downsize mining trucks to deliver environmental and productivity gains.
The move will also help in the eventual electrification of its mining fleet.
This new approach will see the large mining trucks at Rio’s Pilbara iron ore mines replaced with a relative mosquito fleet.
The small trucks can carry a 40 tonne payload as opposed to the larger trucks which carry from 220 tonnes up to nearly 300 tonnes.
There are hopes that the smaller, autonomous trucks will act as conveyor belts out of the mining pits as they can move faster and more frequently.
Rio has calculated that the smaller truck usage will result in capital and operating cost savings as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions, further helping the company reduce its mining footprint.
The mining giant is also targeting fleet electrification, with the smaller trucks making recharging and replacing batteries easier.
Rio is working on the trucking transformation with Scania under a long-term research and development collaboration agreement.
The work so far has focused on advancing autonomous technology at the Channar mine in Western Australia and includes the option for transition to electric-power.
Trials on Scania’s 40-tonne autonomous trucks started in April 2022, and Rio flagged that the use of “right-sized trucks” can improve resource recovery by 3 per cent, reduce strip ration and mine footprint by 10 per cent and deliver big capital expenditure savings.
Rio group technical managing director Santi Pal said the company’s climate action plan included phasing out the purchase of new diesel haul trucks by 2030.
“Partnering with industry leaders such as Scania across a range of fields is an important step towards achieving that,” he said.
“As well as the potential decarbonisation benefits, this partnership provides a path to potential productivity improvements.”
Scania vice president and head of autonomous solutions, Peter Hafmar, said Rio was its Swedish-based commercial vehicle manufacturer’s first customer as it looked to mining on a pathway to net zero emissions.
“This is a major step towards the goals of a sustainable autonomous mining solution, and builds on our already fruitful long-term collaboration,” Hafmar said.