Creating the World's Biggest Robots Proves Challenging for Miners
- Rio Tinto two years behind on plan for driverless rail system
- No one aboard to carry iron-ore 1,000 miles across Australia
Dump trucks drive along haul roads inside the Fimiston Open Pit mine, known as the Super Pit, in this aerial photograph taken above Kalgoorlie, Australia.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/BloombergCreating the world’s largest moving robots to transport iron-ore across the vast Australian Outback is proving more complex and time-consuming than expected for Rio Tinto Group, fueling doubts the technology can deliver promised returns as major rivals defer similar investments.
Rio, which gets more profit from iron-ore than anything else, is already two years behind schedule with a $518 million effort to deploy automated trains on its 1,700-kilometers (1,056 miles) of track. While the system was designed to save money by expanding capacity and reducing labor costs, instead the delays mean the producer has cut output forecasts, and raised questions about whether the project is viable, according to Deutsche Bank AG.