Mining giant Fortescue Metals Group have announced a partnership with leading mining equipment manufacturer Liebherr, aiming to build world’s first zero-emission autonomous haul truck fleet.
The joint partnership will develop a fully integrated Autonomous Haulage Solution (AHS), which will bring Fortescue closer to its goal of achieving zero terrestrial emissions across its Australian iron ore operations by 2030.
The new AHS, being developed and tested at Fortescue’s Pilbara operations, integrates a Fleet Management System (FMS), an onboard autonomy kit for Liebherr’s T 264 truck, and a high-precision machine guidance system for loading equipment.
According to Fortescue , the FMS is designed to optimise fleet utilisation, maximise productivity, and reduce carbon emissions through efficient fuel and energy consumption.
Fortescue Metals CEO Dino Otranto highlighted the company’s expertise in autonomous haulage.
“Our deep expertise in autonomous haulage, that has come from operating over 200 diesel autonomous haul trucks across our mine sites, has enabled Fortescue and Liebherr to develop a Fleet Management System that uniquely targets efficiency and unlocks untapped capacity in our fleet,” he said.
“The partnership with Liebherr has enabled us to jointly develop the Fleet Management Systems, which provide us with an OEM agnostic solution that can be integrated with any autonomous platform including trucks, drills, watercarts or any other heavy mining equipment. This critical technology puts our business in full control of our development priorities and roadmap.”
Oliver Weiss, EVP R&D, Engineering, and Production at Liebherr Mining, said Liebherr has always prioritised market-led product development.
“We are privileged to be partnering with Fortescue to collectively develop and deploy this Autonomous Haulage Solution. Our collaborative efforts will be beneficial, not only for Fortescue, but for the entire mining industry,” he said.
This collaboration expands on the existing partnership between Fortescue and Liebherr, which began in June 2022 with the aim of building a zero-emission haulage solution combining Liebherr’s OEM experience with Fortescue’s fuel cell battery and battery-electric technology.
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