Looking Ahead - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 840

thickening and i ltration to produce a 'i lter cake' are being used increasingly, not only in
alumina rei ning where the costs of tailings dewatering are met by the recovery of pro-
cess chemicals, or in arid areas where scarcity of water requires maximum water recovery,
but in many other operations. The l exibility provided by i ltered tailings in transporta-
tion, placement and tailings storage coni guration is only beginning to become apparent.
The availability of more versatile conveying systems will further advances in the area. In
particular, in the case of strip mining and shallow surface mining, such as many bauxite
and lateritic nickel operations, tailings i ltration in combination with versatile conveying
systems should enable tailings to be returned to mined-out areas, eliminating the need for
tailings storage facilities at these operations. Underground disposal of tailings will be simi-
larly facilitated.
There is also a trend toward co-disposal of mine wastes: waste rock and tailings. In most
cases this involves constructing large waste rock dumps that also serve to impound tailings.
Co-mingling of waste rock and tailings has generally been avoided, as has the placement of
alternating layers of waste rock and tailings; to date, such approaches have involved more
risks than rewards.

CASE 22.2
Automating Mining Activities from Blast Hole Drilling to Ore Transportation and Port Loading

Key building blocks for automated mine-to-port iron ore
operations are being commissioned by Rio Tinto. These include:
● Mine operations in Pilbara to be controlled 1,300
kilometres away at a new centre in Perth;
● Driverless trains to carry iron ore on most of the
1,200 km of track;
● Driverless 'intelligent' truck fl eet; and
● Remote control 'intelligent' drills

capacity and are expected to lead to signifi cant effi ciency
benefi ts. Mainline trials conducted with the Western
Australia Offi ce of Rail Safety have progressed well and a
decision on the next stage of the project is expected in
mid-2008. Automated rail management is the fi rst major
operation scheduled to be run from the Remote Operations
Centre.

of autonomous drilling rigs for the Pilbara mines. In early
2007, Rio Tinto established and funded on a long-term
basis the Rio Tinto Centre for Mine Automation in partner-
ship with The University of Sydney. Under this partnership
Rio Tinto has secured exclusive access to world renowned
robotics experts dedicated to addressing Rio Tinto's 'mine
of the future' opportunities.
This year (2008) Rio Tinto Iron Ore will start run-
ning extensive trials at dedicated mine test site. Trials
will combine the world leading Komatsu Autonomous
Driverless Haulage System with a range of other advanced
remote control and autonomous technologies to provide an
industrial-scale proving ground and template. Experience
gained by the business will allow for further deployments
in Pilbara in 2010 and will also to be applied at other
Rio Tinto mining operations. The 'mine of the future' pro-
gramme will provide opportunities for technology driven
performance improvements to support Rio Tinto Iron Ore's
announced plans to take annual global iron ore production
beyond 600 million tonnes.

'Intelligent' driverless trucks
Rio Tinto will introduce the industry-leading Komatsu
Autonomous Haulage System into Pilbara, which will
allow for a fl eet of 320-tonne off-highway trucks to be
operated without drivers. The system will be commissioned
before the end of 2008 and is expected to be more
widely deployed in new and existing Rio Tinto Iron Ore
operations by 2010.

Major components of the 'mine of the future' are being
commissioned in Rio Tinto Iron Ore operations in 2008
and 2009 including establishing a Remote Operations
Centre (ROC) in Perth to manage operations in the Pilbara
mines hundreds of kilometres away. This allows operators
overseeing Rio Tinto Iron Ore mines and process plant
facilities to be physically located in Perth, Western Australia.
Remote control 'intelligent' trains, drills and trucks will be
operational within Rio Tinto Iron Ore during 2008. Humans
will no longer need to be hands on as all this equipment
will be 'autonomous' - able to make decisions on what to
do based on their environment and interaction with other
machines. Operators will oversee the equipment from the
ROC. The centre will feature an operational control room,
offi ce block and supporting infrastructure, and allow for
potential signifi cant expansions beyond its initial scale.

Remote control 'intelligent' drills
Rio Tinto is already using bespoke autonomous drill technology
in Pilbara to support the 'mine of the future' strategy.

A pathway to fully automated
mine-to-port operations
Rio Tinto began work on defi ning building blocks for the
'mine of the future' over a decade ago and the key com-
ponents required for an integrated mine-to-port operating
system are being assembled and tested by Rio Tinto Iron
Ore. A number of key technologies have been introduced
on a staged basis, beginning in 2006 with the development

Source: Rio Tinto Press Release 18th January, 2008.

Driverless trains
Studies are being fi nalized on the application of
Autonomous Train Operations technology in a heavy haul