Thiess moves 10m banked cubic metres semi-autonomously at Lake Vermont

Global mining services provider Thiess has moved more than 10m banked cubic metres semi-autonomously at the Lake Vermont mine in Queensland.

The milestone was achieved three years after Thiess launched its fleet of six Cat D11 dozers with the semi-autonomous tractor system (SATs).

Thiess head of autonomy and operations technology Trent Smith commented on the milestone.

“10m banked cubic metres is equivalent in volume to 4000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — moving this amount without an operator in the machine is a significant milestone,” he said.

“It reflects Thiess’ ongoing commitment to linking people and technology to deliver safety and operational efficiency outcomes.

“With this technology, a single operator can quickly and easily control multiple dozers from the comfort and safety of a remote operating station, significantly improving production and reducing fatigue.”

The Cat D11 dozers are equipped with Cat MineStarTM Command for dozing, enabling the machine to perform repeatable processes such as loading the blade, pushing, dumping and grade control.

Original equipment manufacturer Caterpillar and Cat dealer Hastings Deering were on site to attend the celebration.

Thiess executive chair and chief executive Michael Wright highlighted the company’s partnerships.

“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,” he said.

“Thiess has one of the world’s largest active deployments of SATS technology. Since introducing this technology at Lake Vermont in 2020, we’ve seen a 10% reduction in unit cost and a 25% improvement in dozer utilisation.”

Thiess is now implementing Cat MineStarTM Command for dozing technology within a rehabilitation application in Queensland.