en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Swedish mining company Boliden AB jointly announced the completion of an autonomous transport project at Boliden's Garpenberg mine in Sweden. This project, the first milestone following the memorandum of understanding signed by both parties in 2023, involved the autonomous transport of nearly 700,000 tons of rock fill material to reinforce and raise the walls of a tailings dam. Volvo's autonomous transport system operated for over 11,000 transport cycles, covering a total distance of 56,000 kilometers.
Located in the municipality of Hedemora, Sweden, the Garpenberg mine is a multi-metal underground mine extracting zinc, lead, silver, copper, and gold. It is also one of the oldest continuously operating mines in Sweden, with a history dating back to the Middle Ages. The mine is now among the most modern underground mines globally. Founded in 1924 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Boliden is one of the largest mining and smelting groups in the Nordic region. Its operations span exploration, mining, smelting, and metal recycling. The company employs approximately 8,000 people, generates annual revenue of around SEK 90 billion, and is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange.
Volvo Autonomous Solutions, a business unit within the Volvo Group focused on developing and commercializing autonomous transport solutions, provides end-to-end autonomous driving systems for vertical industries such as mines and quarries. The system deployed at the Garpenberg mine, named "Autona/earth," is specifically designed for mines and quarries. It consists of autonomous Volvo FH trucks equipped with Volvo's proprietary virtual driver, supporting infrastructure, and an operations and maintenance system. The project was delivered under a "Transport-as-a-Service" model, with Volvo Autonomous Solutions managing technical complexity and regulatory compliance.
The material for the project came from an on-site quarry within the Boliden mining area and was used to reinforce and raise the walls of the tailings dam. Ingo Stummer, Chief Technology Officer of Volvo Autonomous Solutions, stated that autonomous driving brings significant benefits to the mining industry, particularly in removing personnel from hazardous environments and improving safety and efficiency. Rickard Mäki, Head of Electrification and Automation at Boliden, said, "We are very pleased to reach the milestone of 700,000 tons of autonomous transport at the Garpenberg tailings facility, and we will continue to seek safe and efficient collaborative solutions." This project demonstrates the commercial competitiveness of autonomous transport in specific mining operations and lays the foundation for continued cooperation between the two parties.
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