Finding
Mines run the largest driverless heavy-vehicle fleets on Earth, and China is now adding them fastest
Autonomous haul trucks in operation worldwide rose 84% in a year, from 2,080 in July 2024 to 3,832 in July 2025 (GlobalData). Komatsu, first to market in 2008, commissioned its 1,000th autonomous ultra-class truck at Barrick's Nevada Gold Mines in April 2026; Caterpillar had 690 running at the end of 2024 and targets more than 2,000 by 2030. China Energy Investment runs the largest single fleet, 509 trucks, and Chinese suppliers Tonly and LGMG now join Caterpillar and Komatsu as the four main suppliers.
Mines went driverless first because the domain is fenced, repetitive and dangerous, and because remote sites already run their own power. The next step joins autonomy to electrification: battery-electric haul trucks and trolley-assisted haulage, where trucks draw power from overhead lines on ramps. Komatsu has demonstrated autonomous operation on a dynamic trolley line. Once trucks charge, charging becomes part of dispatch, and autonomy is what lets a mine schedule hundreds of charging events around the haul cycle. Counts differ between sources because definitions do; one Chinese supplier, EACON, says it alone has delivered more than 3,000 autonomous mining trucks.
Layers
Mine autonomy layers
Maturity is an ElectronsX assessment.
| Layer | What it covers | Maturity | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haulage | Autonomous haul trucks (AHS) | Very high | Komatsu FrontRunner, Cat MineStar Command, Chinese systems |
| Drilling | Autonomous blast-hole drills | High | Epiroc, Sandvik, Cat |
| Dozing and loading | Remote and autonomous dozers; loading pilots | Medium | Loading is the next frontier |
| Electrification | Battery-electric trucks, trolley assist | Early | Trolley plus autonomy demonstrated |
| Energy | On-site generation, BESS, microgrids | Site-dependent | Remote sites already self-supply |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- Autonomous haulage and equipment in surface mining
- Sources
- GlobalData Mining Intelligence Center (2025); Komatsu (April 2026); Caterpillar; EACON via Skillings
- Updated
- October 2026