Newmont has been forced to slash estimated 2021 gold production from its huge Boddington mine in WA by 17% after problems introducing its new autonomous truck fleet.
Newmont has cut 140,000 ounces from the year’s 830,000 ounce forecast at Boddington.
The cut came as Newmont delivered the gold industry’s first Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) fleet at the operation, comprised of 36 trucks, for a total investment of $US150 million – but not without considerable problems.
The company explained that during commissioning Boddington’s autonomous haulage system, it faced several challenges including unusually severe weather and heavy rainfall, shovel reliability and operational delays associated with managing (mining) bench stability as mining moves into deeper sections of the pit.
Newmont says that a result of the combination of factors Boddington has delivered lower tonnages than expected.
“The record implementation of this project is a tremendous example of Newmont’s trademark ability to set and achieve ambitious goals,” CEO Tom Palmer said in the statement. “Today’s AHS commissioning is (…) an important milestone for the company and the industry as a whole.”
The mine, Western Australia’s largest gold producer, produced 670,000 ounces of and 56 million pounds of copper last year.
The lost 140,000 ounces of gold had a market value at $US1,750 an ounce of $US245 million. That makes the cost of the autonomous trucks (a cost saving) look not so efficient.
But Newmont says the autonomous fleet operation at Boddington will be a test bed for similar moves at its other mines, where suitable.
BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue operate autonomous trucks and other equipment at their huge iron ore mines in the Pilbara.
