American Newmont has completely switched to an autonomous vehicle fleet at Boddington, the largest gold mine in Western Australia, the company said.
"With the transition to a fully autonomous transport fleet of 36 dump trucks, the company will increase the safety and productivity of mines, as well as extend their service life," the message says.
Investments amounted to $ 150 million. The company announced the launch of the project in February 2020.
During commissioning, the project faced a number of challenges, including unusually severe weather and heavy rainfall, lack of excavator reliability and operational delays in bench depth compliance as mining progressed in the open pit.
Boddington is the largest gold producer in Western Australia. In 2020, 670 thousand ounces of gold and 56 million pounds of copper were produced. The forecast for the current year is about 690 thousand ounces of gold.
Newmont is the world's leading gold mining company and producer of copper, silver, zinc and lead. Newmont was founded in 1921 and has been listed on the stock exchange since 1925.
