Trend: Automation
Epiroc has a market-leading position in automation and autonomous operations for mixed-fleet drilling, loading and hauling. All our automation solutions aim to boost productivity and enhance safety by removing operators from hazardous areas and enabling continuous operations. At year end, Epiroc has supplied software to more than 3 900 (3 450) driverless mining vehicles globally, a 13% increase year-on-year, including load/haul fleets, drill rigs, and teleremote systems.
How automation accelerates the productivity and sustainability transformation
- Protecting people by removing operators from hazardous areas and enabling remote or autonomous control.
- Boosting production output and precision by having automated and/or autonomous drilling and hauling.
- Reducing energy consumption and CO₂e emissions through automated speed control, optimized routes, and integration with electrified fleets.
- Lowering total cost of ownership by minimizing downtime, improving asset utilization, and enabling predictive maintenance.
- Enhancing interoperability with OEM-agnostic solutions, allowing mixed fleets to operate together.
Market-leading and OEM-agnostic automation solutions
Our automation approach is OEM-agnostic, designed for interoperability. This means customers can integrate automation across mixed fleets, existing equipment, and existing partners and avoiding vendor lock-in. Today, Epiroc’s mixed-fleet automation solutions are installed at locations worldwide, and keeps growing at a rapid pace. There are different levels of automation:
- Driver assist and remote control: Basic solutions that allow operators to control machines from a safe distance, “in line of sight.”
- Teleremote: Operators control machines using cameras and sensors, from anywhere in the world with connectivity.
- Multi-machine automation: Enables high-precision guidance and centralized control of entire fleets, including machines from different manufacturers.
- Fully autonomous: The most advanced level, where machines operate fully autonomously. Our Rig Control Systems as well as our mixed-fleet project in the Roy Hill mine exemplify this capability.
In 2025, Epiroc reached new milestones with record‑breaking orders, including its largest-ever SEK 2.2 billion contract for autonomous and battery‑electric equipment in Australia, and a major MSEK 235 order in Chile for advanced mine trucks and cutting‑edge digital solutions.
Epiroc’s mixed-fleet operations
3 900+ driverless machines +13% vs. 2024
Autonomous load/haul
Epiroc equipment that is fully autonomous in operation as well as other OEMs equipment that have Epiroc's fully autonomous tramming capabilities.
Autonomous drill rigs
Mainly Epiroc equipment that is autonomous in operation, but in some cases need operator for tramming between different areas.
Teleremote
Remotely controlled equipment (Epiroc and other OEMs), surface and underground using cameras and monitors.
Creation of the world’s largest autonomous and driverless mixed fleet mine
2020-2022: Automation partnership established
Epiroc, together with ASI Mining, signs an agreement with Roy Hill to begin automating its haul truck fleet. This marks the start of a long-term transformation from manned operations to an OEM-agnostic autonomous haulage system, designed to work across mixed truck brands and existing assets.
Initial haul trucks are converted and operated autonomously in controlled production zones. The project validates interoperability, safety systems, and 24/7 autonomous operations, proving that a third-party (OEM-agnostic) autonomy stack can function at scale in an active iron ore mine.
2023: Transition to full-scale deployment
Epiroc secures its largest automation order ever, MSEK 500, confirming Roy Hill’s commitment to building the world’s largest single autonomous mine. This milestone formally shifts the project from staged deployment to industrial-scale implementation, covering dozens of haul trucks across multiple OEMs.
Roy Hill enters the final project stage, moving from pilot operations to mine-wide rollout. Autonomous haulage expands beyond testing, with production-level performance, continuous operation, and plans to scale toward the full haul truck fleet.
2024–2025: Fleet-wide autonomy and operational maturity
Autonomous operations expand rapidly across haul trucks using Epiroc’s LinkOA system. Autonomous trucks accumulate millions of kilometers driven and hundreds of millions of tonnes hauled, demonstrating reliability, safety, and productivity at unprecedented scale.
October 2025: Global milestone achieved
Epiroc and Hancock Iron Ore announce that Roy Hill has become the world’s largest fully OEM-agnostic autonomous mine. The majority of the haulage fleet operates driverless, establishing a new global benchmark for vendor-independent, large-scale mine automation, with full project completion by the end of 2025.