First autonomous Cat 794 AC trucks arrive at Teck’s Quebrada Blanca 2

Following the news that Anglo American’s Quellaveco copper project in Peru has received its first of a fleet of 30 autonomous 297 t class 794 AC Caterpillar trucks, the first units have also begun arriving at Teck’s Quebrada Blanca 2 (QB2) copper project in Chile, shown in an image shared by Luis Eduardo Melendez Herrera, AHS Systems Implementation Leader for Autonomous Trucks at QB2. The autonomy project for Quebrada Blanca 2 was awarded to Finning together with Caterpillar in May 2019, to include the operation of 28 new autonomous 794 AC electric drive trucks. The situation is being actively managed to maintain the current workforce level and allow for further ramp–up as soon as practicable. First production is expected in the second half of 2022.”The supergene orebody (near-surface deposit) was mined during the initial phase of Quebrada Blanca. It has an initial 28-year mine life but will still use only 25% of total reserves and resources.