Autonomous Coal Miners Begin Operations in Mongolia

A fleet of 100 electric, self-driving coal mining trucks has started operating in Mongolia, managed by artificial intelligence connected through a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network. The project is expected to expand, bringing greater safety and efficiency to China’s coal mining industry.

Coal Use Remains High Despite Environmental Concerns

Although the environmental drawbacks of coal are well known, it remains widely used as an energy source around the world. According to Enerdata, global coal use growth slowed from about 6% in 2022 to 2.2% in 2023. However, in countries like China, India, and Vietnam, usage surged during the same period, with growth rates of 6.9%, 9.9%, and 25%, respectively. Currently, China and India together account for 71% of global coal consumption. China alone is developing about 1,280 million tons per year in new mining capacity — roughly half of all proposed global capacity.

In this context, it makes sense for China to explore ways to make coal mining safer, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly.

One such effort is the Huaneng Ruichi fleet, which includes 100 electric autonomous trucks that recently began working at the Yimin open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia.Chinese energy giant Huaneng Group launched the project.

Advanced Technology Enables Efficient Operations in Extreme Conditions

Each vehicle can carry up to 90 metric tons of coal and operates in extremely low temperatures, down to -40 °C — not typical in Inner Mongolia, but certainly possible. The trucks operate in sync thanks to a 5G-A mobile network, which enables high-speed data transmission and low latency. In this case, the system reaches upload speeds of 500 Mbps and latency as low as 20 milliseconds. The artificial intelligence system managing the location and operations of the robotrucks is provided by Huawei through the Commercial Vehicle Autonomous Driving Cloud service.

“As China’s first autonomous mining truck without a driver’s cabin, Huaneng Ruichi puts worker safety first, keeping personnel away from hazardous equipment and harsh environments, significantly reducing associated risks,” Huawei said in a statement. “Ensuring the safety of people and machinery while improving productivity under extreme conditions — such as freezing temperatures, high altitudes, and severe rain, snow, or dust — is a critical challenge. It requires strong data processing and system coordination capabilities.”

Huaneng Group representatives state that this is the largest single deployment of autonomous electric mining trucks in the world.Additionally, the Yimin mine now holds the distinction of being the first open-pit mine in the world to power operations with 5G-A technology. The system will eventually support up to 300 autonomous trucks.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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