Sandvik has launched AutoMine for trucks, an autonomous ramp haulage application that miners can use both underground and on the surface. AutoMine allows trucks to switch from underground to surface navigation in real time, which Sandvik says helps minimize equipment damage by up to 50 per cent and optimizes efficiency by up to 30 per cent. “The system uses a seamless automatic handover between the underground and surface positioning system where trucks keep moving without stopping at the portal,” Jouni Koppanen, product line manager of underground automation at Sandvik, told CIM Magazine. “After dumping, they immediately continue with the next production cycle to get another load from underground.” AutoMine eliminates the need for in-person hardware changes to trucks and its associated risks, and can be supervised from remote locations.