The mining giant will deploy ten automated Komatsu haul trucks to the Junction South East pit of its Yandicoogina mine.
Five of those driverless trucks will be redeployed from West Angelas, where they were limited to dumping 'waste' products for the trial. The others will be new vehicles.
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A Rio Tinto spokeswoman told iTnews that the existing five trucks "ceased running" at West Angelas in late February and were "in the process of being moved" to Yandicoogina.
Dumping iron ore for the first time
At Yandicoogina, the trucks will dump iron ore for the first time, marking a major step in the evolution of the project towards full operational deployment.
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The ten-truck roll-out is the next phase of the driverless truck portion of Rio Tinto's Mine of the Future program, which promotes automation and remote control of equipment at mine sites.
Operating start this month
Rio Tinto's spokeswoman said the trucks would start operating at Yandicoogina at some point this month, but did not know whether the entire fleet of ten would be operating from day one. She added that "The intention is to get them working in Junction South East pit as soon as we can.”
Aside from the ten trucks to operate at Yandicoogina, Rio Tinto has ordered another 150 autonomous trucks from Komatsu, to be delivered over the next four years.
