What in the world do mining and rocket science have in common?

Last updated: 9 September 2019

Let's start with robots

If you're a sucker for sci-fi, or even if you're not, you’ll know that remotely operated equipment like rovers are pretty handy for exploring far-off places like Mars or the moon. In fact, NASA has been using remotely operated rovers to explore the Red Planet since the late nineties.

At Rio Tinto, we love our robots too (ours are nice – more C3PO than The Terminator). In fact, we run one of the world's largest robots – a 1,700km railway in Western Australia that runs on artificial intelligence, safely and efficiently moving iron ore from 16 of our mines to our four shipping terminals. About a quarter of our fleet of giant trucks is already autonomous, and we're planning to expand it in the near future.

And at our Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah, in the United States, we're using remotely operated land rovers and drones to do risky jobs – like checking high walls in open pits and parts inside big machinery. We like to call them our little superheroes.

We use technology pioneered by NASA

At Gudai-Darri (Koodaideri), our planned intelligent mine, we’ll use a "digital twin" to help us be more efficient. Pioneered by NASA, digital twins are virtual models of a physical environment – like a space station – that let you quickly test different situations. NASA designs and tests all new equipment virtually before they build it and send it into space.

In the same way, at Gudai-Darri we’re building digital twins of processing plants. These twins combine data from actual processing plants with historical information – about things like design and production – to improve the way the plants are designed and run. Whether we're in the office or out in the field, we'll always have this information at our fingertips. A major plus to this is it lets us safely test ways to increase production without breaking parts or disrupting operations. An engineer's dream!

We have mission control centres

Our operations centres at Perth and Weipa in Australia and the Saguenay in Canada are a lot like space mission control centres. The teams work around the clock in rooms filled with screens that show the entire operation in action – in real time. Using tools like predictive maths, clever computer code and powerful software, they help chart the course of our business – from finding the best way to get ore from the ground to improving the way we make aluminium. Our Perth centre is also mission control for our fleet of autonomous trucks, which drive around mines 1,500km away. They even drill blast holes and crush rocks using gaming consoles. Beam us up (to the Pilbara), Scotty!