More than 10 million banked cubic metres have been moved semi-autonomously at the Lake Vermont mine in Queensland, the equivalent in volume to 4000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The milestone was reached with the help of global mining services supplier Thiess and a fleet of six Caterpillar (Cat) D11 dozers with the semi-autonomous tractor system it first deployed in 2020.
The Cat D11 dozers at Lake Vermont are equipped with the Cat MineStar Command, an automation solution that helps the machine perform repeatable processes including loading the blade, pushing, dumping and grade control with consistent accuracy.
The news was celebrated onsite by Thiess, Cat and its Queensland dealer Hastings Deering.
“Our strong relationships with original equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar enable Thiess to provide our clients with cutting-edge technology to meet and surpass their operational and sustainability targets,” Thiess Group executive chair and chief executive officer Michael Wright said.
“Thiess has one of the world’s largest active deployments of semi-autonomous tractor system technology. Since introducing this technology at Lake Vermont in 2020, we’ve seen a 10 per cent reduction in unit cost and (a) 25 per cent improvement in dozer utilisation.”
Cat senior vice president Marc Cameron echoed Wright’s sentiment.
“10 million banked cubic metres moved by Cat semi-autonomous dozers is an outstanding milestone. We are proud to collaborate with Thiess as they leverage our technology and deliver demonstrated results in productivity and cost improvement at site,” he said.
Last month, it was announced that Thiess had commenced fully autonomous hauling and drilling operations at Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex in Queensland.
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
