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The Pilbara’s most technologically advanced mine is Gudai-by Darri's Rio Tinto The state-of-the-art Gudai-Darri mine operated by Rio Tinto has begun operations in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Rio Tinto's 17th iron ore mine, with a capacity of 43 million tonnes annually, has been delivered after 14 million hours of labor since development got underway in April 2019.
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ith some of the most cuttingedge machinery, including a robotic ore sample laboratory that gives visibility of the ore grades out of the mine within minutes, it is the company's most technologically advanced iron ore mine in the area.
There are autonomous trucks, trains, and drills, which are common in many of Rio Tinto's Pilbara mines, as well as a virtual processing plant that enables teams to swiftly test various scenarios before putting them into practice.
Gudai-Darri combines a number of advances, such as Robotic drills and vehicles Three CAT MD6310 autonomous drills and 23 CAT 793F autonomous haul trucks are both available at Gudai-Darri. Using sensors, the trucks use real-time ore tracking to give live dig face progression, and the drills' data-informed modeling contributes to building more precise evaluations of the ground's current conditions and enhancing safety. Rio Tinto is developing the creation of emission-free autonomous haul vehicles in partnership with Caterpillar. It is envisaged that the world's first operational deployment of Caterpillar 793 zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks will take place at Gudai-Darri after development is complete.
Gudai-Darri anticipates increasing iron ore production volumes beginning in the second half of this year and reaching capacity in 2023. The mine has an expected life of more than 40 years. One-third of the mine's electricity requirements will be met by a 34-megawatt solar farm being constructed by Rio Tinto, with completion scheduled for August 2022. A one gigawatt solar and wind power project in the Pilbara, which may be seven times bigger than Western Australia's 38 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW August 2022
