The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - November 8, 2024
Autonomous Cat 777 haul trucks operating at Luck Stone Quarry in Virginia.
"Blue lights are on! One of my favorite phrases signaling another customer site is using Caterpillar Inc.'s autonomous solution," Caterpillar Resource Industries Group President Denise Johnson penned in a LinkedIn post celebrating the debut of its newest class of Cat automated mining trucks at Luck Stone Corp.'s Bull Run aggregate plant in Virginia.
The flashing blue lights sets the new 100-ton (90 metric tons) Cat 777 haul trucks at the stone, sand, and gravel quarry apart from non-autonomous trucks.
While there are blue lights flashing on a growing number of two-story-tall Cat haul trucks capable of autonomously transporting 250 to 400 tons of material per load, the slightly more modest Cat 777 haul trucks at Luck Stone Quarry mark an expansion of Caterpillar's autonomous haulage options.
"This latest milestone marks a significant step to tailor Caterpillar's cutting-edge mining technology for the quarry and aggregates industry," said Johnson.
The largest classes of MineStar Command-equipped autonomous Cat trucks have traveled more than 200 million miles (325 million kilometers) and hauled more than 8.62 billion metric tons of material at world-class mines on three continents.
In fact, these enormous Cat trucks autonomously haul more material each year than the entire crushed stone production in the United States.
In order to develop affordable autonomous haulage with the capacity to make rock quarries safer and more productive, a team from Caterpillar has been embedded with Luck Stone to learn the ins and outs of the crushed stone sector from a family business that has been delivering aggregate on America's East Coast for more than 100 years.
After two years of collaboration, Cat 777 trucks with flashing blue lights are hauling rock at Luck Stone's Bull Run plant.
"Congratulations to both the Luck Stone and Caterpillar teams for this outstanding achievement. It's meaningful not just for Bull Run operations, but for our customers of all sizes as we develop new technologies to serve the quarry and aggregates as well as construction industries," said Johnson.
For Luck Stone, the successful deployment of autonomous Cat trucks at Bull Run is just the first milestone on an autonomous path for the multi-generation family-owned company and the aggregate sector at large.
"Our mission is to ignite human potential and positively impact the lives of others, and this project does just that by providing opportunities and experiences for our associates to grow and learn. Caterpillar's innovative technology will also improve safety and be a tool for attracting the next generation of mining professionals," said Luck Companies Chairman and CEO Charlie Luck. "We're excited for the future and what's next for autonomy, and thankful for our continued, collaborative relationship with Caterpillar."
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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