Rio Tinto paves road to its future with rise of the robots

THE performance gap between man and machine is growing at Rio Tinto with its fleet of driverless trucks now 15 per cent cheaper to run than the manned variety.

Autonomous trucks work Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine. Picture: Christian Sprogoe Photography

THE performance gap between man and machine is growing at Rio Tinto with its fleet of driverless trucks now 15 per cent cheaper to run than the manned variety.

Rio chief Jean-Sebastien Jacques has pointed to the miner’s investment in cutting-edge technology as a key part of a cost-saving drive.

By the end of the year, that drive will have stripped a total of $US9 billion ($12 billion) from the group’s costs since 2012.

Mr Jacques made the comments at the miner’s annual meeting in London last night — his first since taking over Rio in July last year.

“Our strong balance sheet, world-class assets and talented employees will help us be more resilient during volatility,” he told shareholders.

“We have the right strategy to make the most of all of the opportunities that come our way.”

Mr Jacques said Rio would continue to pull hard on the cost and productivity levers through the use of technology and improving the utilisation of equipment.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques. Picture: David Mirzoeff

He called out the miner’s investment in autonomous technology with each of its 76 driverless haul trucks in its key iron ore business operating at a 15 per cent lower cost than a traditional manned truck.

The autonomous trucks can run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without a driver who needs bathroom or lunch breaks.

Rio has led the global mining industry in the use of autonomous vehicles, rolling out a test program in 2008.

By 2013, the miner was reporting its driverless fleet had delivered a 10 per cent improvement in utilised time and had not recorded a single safety ­incident.

In late 2015, the miner revealed the fleet was 13 per cent cheaper to run, as three of its Pilbara mines became the first in the world where all their ore was moved using autonomous technology.

Mr Jacques has also been managing a bribery scandal over an abandoned iron ore project in Africa that has resulted in the sacking of two senior executives.

The Rio chief did not directly reference the matter in his opening address last night but noted the company’s commitment to its global code of conduct was non-negotiable.

“How we do things is as important as what we do,” he said.

The sacked Rio executives have denied any wrongdoing.