Australian mining company Rio Tinto has formed an alliance with Atlas Copco, Sweden-based world leader in the manufacture and support of drills used in the mining and civil engineering industries, in order to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous drilling solutions for the surface mining industry.
"Rio Tinto is changing the face of mining. This partnership will help us to increase our lead on the rest of the mining industry and establish our position as the global leader in fully integrated, automated operations," Rio Tinto's CE Tom Albanese stated. He went on to add, "This development will allow for more efficient operations, delivering more tones, faster, with reduced carbon emissions, low costs and a safer working environment."
Moreover, Rio Tinto is also working together with the US-based world leader in environmental technologies General Electric (GE) on two key strategic technology projects - Rio Tinto's 'Mine of the FutureTM' and GE's 'Ecomagination'. The aim of the projects is to develop the most energy efficient and ecologically friendly solutions to support the future of mining.
With regard to GE, Mr. Albanese said, "They are at the forefront of innovative technology illustrated by their leadership in hybrid technologies for locomotives and off-highway trucks and are perfect partners for Rio Tinto as we lead the charge to develop the next generation of mining technologies, creating a more efficient and sustainable mining industry.".
Earlier this year, Rio Tinto CE Tom Albanese launched his vision for the "mine of the future", revealing plans for driverless trains to carry iron ore on most of the 1,300 km of track in Western Australia, a driverless "intelligent" truck fleet for Rio Tinto's mines there, and a Remote Operations Centre for the Pilbara mine operations 1,300 km away at a new centre in Perth.