Komatsu hits 1,000th autonomous haul

Komatsu said April 21 that it commissioned its 1,000th autonomous ultra-class haul truck, with the milestone vehicle deployed at Barrick’s Nevada Gold Mines operation in the United States. (komatsu.com) The truck is a Komatsu 930E-5AT, an electric-drive haul truck rated for a 290-metric-ton payload. Komatsu said it runs on the company’s FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage System. (komatsu.com) Autonomous haulage in mining means the trucks drive preplanned routes, stop for obstacles, and coordinate with loaders and dispatch software without an onboard driver. Komatsu says FrontRunner has been in commercial use since 2008. (komatsu.com 1) (komatsu.com 2) Nevada Gold Mines is a new U.S. foothold for that system. Barrick said on July 31, 2025 that the companies had launched what it called the first FrontRunner autonomous haulage partnership in the United States. (barrick.com) Barrick said the Nevada deployment will automate fleets of 300-tonne and 230-tonne haul trucks across its surface operations. The company said the project is aimed at reducing worker exposure to hazards and improving operating efficiency. (barrick.com) Komatsu said more than 500 of the autonomous trucks already in service are 930E models. It also said FrontRunner fleets have moved more than 11.5 billion metric tons of material since the system’s commercial introduction. (komatsu.com) The Nevada project also depends on site communications, not just the trucks. Barrick said Sedna and Nokia are supplying a customized 5G network to support real-time data exchange and remote operation. (barrick.com) Komatsu has been tying autonomy to electrification as well. In May 2025, it said it had autonomously operated an electric-drive truck while connected to a dynamic trolley line, which feeds power from overhead wires on uphill hauls. (komatsu.com) The 1,000th truck does not mean every mine is fully autonomous. It does show that one of mining’s oldest automation programs has moved from isolated pilots to fleets large enough for Barrick to roll out across a major U.S. gold complex. (komatsu.com) (barrick.com) For Komatsu, the marker is simple: the 1,000th truck is now working in Nevada, and the company is using that mine to push autonomous haulage deeper into U.S. gold production. (komatsu.com)