WorldWide Drilling Resource®

9 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2020 Autonomous Haulage Fleet to Gold Mining Industry Newmont Corporation announced unanimous approval for investment in an Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) at its Boddington mine in Western Australia, to enhance safety and productivity while extending mine life. Boddington’s autonomous Caterpillar haul trucks will feature rigorous safety controls to reduce employee exposure to potential vehicle interactions. Newmont is also executing a robust people strategy at the mine to provide opportunities for reskilling and redeployment of haul truck drivers to other roles supporting the AHS. “Not only does Boddington continue to deliver strong performance, our in- vestment in autonomous haul trucks will generate an internal rate of return greater than 35% with a more controlled and efficient haulage operation,” said Tom Palmer, president and CEO. “We are also uniquely positioned in the gold sector to support effective implementation and operation of the fleet thanks to the technical capabilities and previous experience of leaders in our business. Simply put, Boddington will be a safer, more productive world-class gold mine in a top-tier jurisdiction.” Boddington is Western Australia’s largest gold producer and directly employs about 2000 people. Once fully operational in 2021, it will be the world’s first open-pit gold mine with an AHS. For a link to this website, visit worldwidedrillingresource.com Photo courtesy of CAT ® .