en.Wedoany.com Reported - Six Komatsu HD1500 mining trucks at Norton Gold Fields, a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. ("Zijin Mining"), located in the Kalgoorlie gold mining district of Western Australia, have completed the installation and commissioning of EACON's autonomous haulage system. The trucks have officially commenced day shift autonomous operations, running in actual production environments without safety drivers. This project represents a pioneering practice in the retrofit deployment of autonomous haulage systems for Komatsu HD1500 mining trucks and marks the first deployment of an autonomous haulage system within a production mining area in the Kalgoorlie gold district.
Norton Gold Fields is one of Zijin Mining's core gold assets in Australia, located in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia, primarily operating the Havana pit and the Mulgarrie work area. EACON is a technology company specializing in the research, development, and application of autonomous haulage technology for mines, offering OEM-agnostic autonomous driving solutions. The project received a communication infrastructure order in January 2026, and over five months, preparations including communication system upgrades, local server deployment, delineation of autonomous operation zones, risk assessments, and operational process changes were completed.
Each truck was retrofitted using EACON's OEM-agnostic autonomous driving solution, including drive-by-wire modifications. This approach enables mines to introduce autonomous haulage using existing fleet assets, reducing investment in new equipment and minimizing disruption to current operations. The current day shift deployment also serves to train on-site teams in preparation for subsequent night shift autonomous operations.
Elaine Jin, Chief Growth Officer of EACON Australia, stated that transitioning autonomous haulage to actual production environments imposes higher demands on on-site support, technical support, and training. EACON has completed automation retrofits for over 2,500 trucks, with autonomous driving mileage reaching 120 million kilometers, covering 30 projects across minerals including coal, iron ore, copper, gold, and zinc.
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