Volvo Autonomous Solutions and mining company Boliden have completed an autonomous transport project at Boliden’s Garpenberg site in Sweden, moving nearly 700,000 tonnes of rock fill material without drivers.

The material was hauled from an on-site quarry and used to reinforce a local dam and raise the dam wall. Volvo said its autonomous haulage system completed more than 11,000 transport cycles and covered 56,000 km (34,797 miles) during the project.

The work was the first step under a memorandum of understanding signed by Volvo and Boliden in 2023, and the companies say it lays the groundwork for future collaboration.

“Autonomy has clear benefits for the mining industry, especially when it comes to removing people from hazardous environments and improving the safety and efficiency of operations,” said Ingo Stuermer, chief technology officer at Volvo Autonomous Solutions. “With more than 700,000 tonnes transported at Garpenberg, we have demonstrated that autonomous haulage works at scale, in real conditions and in real customer operations.”

The Garpenberg project used Autona/earth, Volvo Autonomous Solutions’ offering for mines and quarries. The system combines autonomous Volvo FH trucks for mining with Volvo’s in-house virtual driver, infrastructure, operational support and maintenance.

The offering is delivered as Transport-as-a-Service, with Volvo Autonomous Solutions managing the technical and regulatory elements needed for deployment.

“We are very pleased to reach the 700,000 milestone of autonomous transports at our tailings facility in Garpenberg,” said Rikard Mäki, head of electrification and automation at Boliden. “Of course, we will continue to seek safe and productive solutions in partnership, with the aim of developing world-leading mining operations.”