On a late autumn day, the Zhibula pit remains a hive of activity. Autonomous trucks load ore at designated spots, follow set haulage routes and dump their loads in an orderly sequence. When battery power runs low, they automatically return for charging — all without a single driver behind the wheel.

This is the Julong Copper Mine, operated by Zijin, a leading global metals miner. Here, more than 70 autonomous haul trucks are now in operation, with overall productivity close to 90% of human-driven trucks and fully driverless haulage achieved at the mine’s Zhibula pit.

From Driver’s Seat to Control Room

Dispatcher Zhang Shiyin monitors the fleet’s movements on display screens from a control room 10 kilometers away. Around 45 autonomous trucks were operating that day at Zhibula, with two requiring charging.

Zhang, who has worked at Julong for nearly five years, previously drove trucks at high altitudes, where low oxygen levels posed a constant challenge. He now coordinates truck operations from an indoor control room nearly 1,500 meters lower in altitude than his former workplace, significantly improving his working conditions and safety.

Since Julong initiated autonomous haulage in 2024, many truck drivers have transitioned into remote dispatcher roles. Zhang is one of them.

Safety by Design

According to Lai Yuanping, Deputy General Manager at Julong, reducing irregular human operations is central to improving mine safety. Through the autonomous haulage program, radar and image recognition technologies replace drivers’ judgment with the system’s automatic responses, fundamentally improving safety at the frontlines of production.

To support efficient autonomous operations, the mine has widened and leveled its haul roads, expanded loading and dumping areas, installed traffic lights and established site traffic rules. Together, these measures provide an integrated package of hardware, software and operating procedures for autonomous vehicles.

Scaling Beyond Julong

Apart from Julong Copper Mine, Zijin has also deployed autonomous trucks at scale at its Zijinshan Gold-Copper mine, a flagship asset in China, and Norton Gold Fields, a gold producer based in Australia.

Autonomous operations and mine digitalization have become a new frontier for global mining majors. As part of a push for digital and intelligent transformation, Zijin is applying advanced technologies at its mine sites, reshaping the fundamentals of mining operations and safety management.