Autonomous Trucks
Autonomous mining truck fleets and pilot projects continue to grow in Chile and Peru with Chile copper mining giant the latest to commit. Cat dealer Finning said in its just released Q1 2021 results that its South American operation have received a notice of award from Chilean state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, to deliver new trucks, product support, and an autonomous technology pilot to its mining operations in northern Chile. Finning expects to start delivering the trucks in the second half of 2021. It goes on: “In addition, we have secured a 5-year extension of our existing product support contract with Codelco’s Ministro Hales copper mine, which operates 39 Caterpillar ultra-class trucks, 6 Caterpillar shovels, and a fleet of Caterpillar support equipment. We will also work closely with Caterpillar and Codelco’s Ministro Hales Division to pilot Caterpillar’s AHS (Autonomous Haulage System) to enable autonomous operations at the Ministro Hales copper mine.”