Newmont recently installed the gold industry’s first fleet of haul trucks managed by an autonomous haulage system (AHS) at the Boddington mine, Western Australia’s largest gold mine. With the transition to a fully autonomous haulage fleet of 36 trucks, the company expects to improve safety and productivity, and extend the mine’s life.
This is an important milestone for Newmont and the industry as a whole, explained Newmont President and CEO Tom Palmer.
“Delivering this project on time and on budget during a global pandemic is an enormous accomplishment,” Palmer said. “I am grateful for our team and our partners at Caterpillar for their ongoing dedication and drive.”
Newmont invested $150 million in the AHS project. The company said it recently completed the industry’s fastest AHS commissioning program. The site continues to fine tune the technology for operation in a deep open-pit mine as it ramps up the haul truck fleet to full productivity.
During commissioning, the project faced several challenges, including unusually severe weather and heavy rainfall, shovel reliability and operational delays associated with managing bench hygiene as mining moves into deeper sections of the pit. As a result, Boddington delivered lower ex-pit tons than expected, with full-year 2021 gold production anticipated to be approximately 140,000 ounces (oz) below original guidance estimates of 830,000 oz. Last year, Boddington produced 670,000 oz and 56 million lb of copper.
“The record implementation of this project is a tremendous example of Newmont’s trademark ability to set and achieve ambitious goals,” Palmer said. “Throughout our 100-year history, our industry-leading position has been built on deep operational knowledge and technical expertise. Today’s AHS commissioning is another moment to add to our proud history of achievements.”
