“Traditionally in potash mining, you’ve got these 250-tonne, massive pieces of equipment. There was always an operator sitting in the cab, running the joysticks, watching for various geological markers. And one of the big challenges has been, ‘how do you remove them from that machine?”‘
Mining has always been a dangerous occupation. The risks are most significant in underground operations, where workers face the possibility of everything from cave-ins and fires to floods and poisonous air. Here in Canada, Teck Resources Ltd. is already using an autonomous haulage system at its Elkview steel-making coal mine in British Columbia.
“ can start reversing much, much more quickly than a staffed truck could do. And they can also pass by each other much more closely than you would ever allow with staffed trucks,” Corson said. “So it really enables much faster loading.”