Autonomous trucks at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine. Image: Christian Sprogoe Photography.
By Elizabeth Fabri
CANADIAN-based Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group is taking a leaf out of Australia’s book by developing a new international guideline for autonomous mining, based on documentation released by the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP).
Published in 2015, the DMP’s Safe mobile autonomous mining in Western Australia was a world-first code of practice focused on safe autonomous mining technologies such as loaders, trucks, drills and dozers.
Senior Inspector of Mines Peter O’Loughlin would be appointed on the committee for the new guidelines following his coordination of the WA code of practice.
“This reflects Western Australia’s global leadership in the field of autonomous mining equipment and its safe operation,” Mines Safety Director and State Mining Engineer Andrew Chaplyn said.
“It is also indicative of the collaborative approach the department used in developing the code.”
