Tía María Komatsu AHS trucks: haul road and traffic design notes for mine engineers Reviewed by Joe Ashwell First reported on International Mining – News 30 Second Briefing Southern Copper’s Tía María greenfield copper project in Arequipa will be the first mine in Peru to operate Komatsu autonomous haulage system (AHS) trucks, supplied and supported by Komatsu-Mitsui. CEO Julio Molina told Día1 de El Comercio that the deployment will use Komatsu’s state-of-the-art AHS platform, signalling a shift towards driverless haul fleets in the country’s large open pits. The move will require detailed redesign of haul roads, traffic management and dispatch systems to meet AHS requirements for berms, gradients and separation from manned equipment. Technical Brief - Integration will require interfacing Komatsu’s fleet management and AHS control with existing dispatch systems. - Communications backbone must support continuous high‑reliability data links between trucks, servers and field devices across the open pit. - Safety case will hinge on geofenced operating zones, exclusion areas and controlled interactions with ancillary equipment. - Commissioning sequence typically involves manned operation, supervised autonomous trials, then progressive ramp‑up to full autonomous haul. - Local workforce will need upskilling for AHS control room operation, field maintenance, and sensor/calibration support roles. - Regulatory approval will have to address autonomous vehicle standards, liability allocation and incident investigation protocols. - Experience at this project is likely to set the reference framework for AHS permitting and design on future open pits. Our Take Within our mining project coverage, Peru features less frequently than Chile or Brazil, so Southern Copper Corp’s Tía María deployment signals that high-automation fleets are now being pushed into jurisdictions where social licence and regulatory scrutiny are comparatively tight. Komatsu-Mitsui’s role at Tía María positions it as a key automation supplier in Peru, which is likely to influence procurement choices at