Rio Tinto has teamed up with Caterpillar to develop zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks that will be used at Rio Tinto's Western Australian mining sites.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the plan is to develop 35 new 220-tonne 793 zero-emissions haul trucks to be used at the Gudai-Darri iron ore mine, located in the Pilbara region.

As part of the development, prototypes will be developed, tested, and undergo pre-production trials before the trucks are rolled out on-site.

The move is part of the mining giant's$1 billion climate change commitment where it plans to have net zero emissions by 2050.

"Our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our operations is a priority. Reaching this ambition will require new and innovative solutions and partnerships with supplier partners like Caterpillar. This collaboration represents a small but important step on that journey," Rio Tinto chief commercial officer Alf Barrios said.

"We look forward to working together to validate these zero-emissions haul trucks in just a few years' time. The advanced technology at Gudai-Darri puts it at the forefront of new mining operations globally and we look forward to adding Caterpillar zero-emissions haul trucks to the site."

In June, Rio Tinto worked with Caterpillar to deploy three fully autonomous water trucks at its Gundai-Darri site. Each truck features an on-board system that can automatically detect when water application is needed on the roads to suppress dry and dusty conditions on-site. It can also recognise when it is time to refill, prompting them to self-drive to the water stand, park, and top-up before returning to the field. 

Rio Tinto first introduced the use of fully autonomous haul trucks more than a decade ago, as one of its first steps in its Mine of the Future program. Ever since, the company has been expanding its autonomous trucking fleet.

Related Coverage

Caterpillar signs up to Rio Tinto's autonomous endeavours

20 autonomous trucks and four autonomous blast drills will be added to Rio Tinto's Koodaideri iron ore operation in the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto completes rollout of world-first autonomous iron ore rail operation

Mining Giant creates 'world's largest robot' as its driverless rail network goes live in Pilbara, Western Australia.

Rio Tinto gets green light for autonomous rail operation

The mining giant has been granted accreditation for its AutoHaul autonomous train transport project.

Rio Tinto's autonomous trucks haul one-billionth tonne of material

The company's driverless haul trucks have now moved more than one billion tonnes of ore and waste material across five sites in the Pilbara region, Western Australia.

Procurement system upgrade highlights Rio Tinto's hesitance to change

Upgrading the mining giant's contract system took 12 months to approve, Rio's source process and improvement manager has revealed.