Caterpillar reported it and Wheeler Machinery completed installation of a Cat MineStar Fleet management system at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, U.S.A. The deployment optimized the mine’s equipment tracking, production recording, material management, and truck assignment process, Caterpillar said.
“For 15 years, Rio Tinto has used MineStar Terrain and has expanded its MineStar capabilities in recent years at locations like Gudai Darri and Marandoo, autonomous mine sites in Western Australia,” said Ryan Howell, mining technology commercial product manager, Caterpillar. “Bingham Canyon Mine is the first MineStar Fleet site in Rio Tinto history, and this extends the company’s application of MineStar capabilities.”
Previously the mine adopted MineStar Terrain, which allowed for relatively easier adoption of the fleet management system. The incremental deployment to reduce downtime was carefully managed by Caterpillar and Wheeler. The results amounted to a near seamless rollout, leadership at the mine said.
“We have been impressed with the partnership, and we share the same vision and have the correct team to get us there,” said Bryce Olson, mine monitoring and control superintendent. “We flipped the switch, and we haven’t gone backwards,” he said. “We immediately started using MineStar Fleet’s open assignment, load-haul-dump, and auto-fuel advanced features.”
