Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Boliden have completed an autonomous haulage project for tailings dam construction at the Garpenberg zinc mine in Sweden, the first deliverable under their 2023 memorandum of understanding. Volvo’s autonomous haul trucks operated on a defined haul road between the open pit and the tailings facility, integrating with existing conventional fleets and site traffic management. The trial provides data on cycle times, berm and ramp design, and interaction rules needed to scale autonomous haulage for future dam lifts and other overburden movements on Boliden sites.

Cobre Las Cruces S.A.U. has completed its sale from First Quantum Minerals to Global Panduro, controlled by Resource Capital Funds, in a deal valued at up to US$190 million, clearing the way for the Polymetallurgical Refinery (PMR) project near Seville. The PMR is designed to process complex polymetallic ores on site rather than exporting concentrates, shifting the operation from conventional open-pit copper cathode production towards an integrated hydrometallurgical flowsheet. For engineers, the ownership change signals continuity for permitting, plant design and potential underground transition planning at this brownfield Iberian Pyrite Belt asset.

Epiroc has secured an order from Heidelberg Materials to deploy its LinkOA autonomous haulage system on driverless haul trucks at an Australian quarry, extending the platform from large open-pit mines into the quarrying and aggregates sector. The project will adapt LinkOA’s mine-proven fleet management, collision avoidance and traffic control capabilities to shorter haul cycles, tighter geometries and mixed-traffic quarry conditions. For quarry operators, this signals accelerating interest in OEM-agnostic autonomy retrofits on existing haul fleets to cut operating costs and manage labour constraints.