Sarcouncil Journal of Engineering and Computer Sciences

Abstract: Autonomous mining trucks are driverless haul vehicles that transport ore, waste rock and overburden without an onboard operator. They have become one of the most consequential technology transitions in modern surface and underground mining. This paper reviews the current state of autonomous haulage systems (AHS), with attention to deployment growth, functional architecture, sensing and perception stacks, path planning and fleet management strategies, and demonstrated operational outcomes. Global adoption has accelerated sharply: the operating fleet on surface mines rose from roughly 2,080 units in mid 2024 to more than 3,830 units by July 2025, an 84% increase in twelve months, led by iron ore, copper, coal and oil sands operations across Australia, Chile, Peru, Canada and China. Reported gains include productivity improvements of up to 30%, operating cost reductions of about 20%, safety related incident reductions of approximately 50%, and utilization improvements of up to 20% relative to conventional manned fleets. Rio Tinto autonomous trucks operate approximately 700 hours per year more than conventional units and are associated with load and haul cost reductions on the order of 15%. Beyond these gains, the paper examines outstanding challenges in perception under dust, fog and non line of sight (NLOS) conditions, cybersecurity of highly connected cyber physical systems, workforce transitions, and the integration of autonomy with the emerging generation of battery electric and trolley assisted haul trucks. The review synthesizes evidence from peer reviewed journals, industry publications, corporate disclosures on autonomous mining technologies, and identifies interoperability, ecosystem level intelligence, cyber secure V2X communications and human–robot collaboration as the priority research directions for the next decade of automation in mining.