EACON Mining runs 60 driverless electric haul trucks at a Tibetan mine 5,400 m up

Chinese company EACON Mining says all 60 battery-electric dump trucks at the Zhibula copper mine in Tibet, more than 5,400 metres up, now run fully autonomously. It calls the project the largest autonomous fleet at a single metal mine in China and the first fully autonomous operation of electric mining vehicles above 5,000 metres.

The trucks began work in September 2025 with operators at the wheel while EACON checked its driving system on site, and the company says safety drivers were removed after two weeks. By March 2026, 52 trucks ran without drivers, and all 60 did by the end of September. Thin air, strong UV light, snow, freeze-thaw cycles and steep haul roads make sensing and control harder, and EACON relies on fused sensor data and adaptive vehicle control.

According to EACON, the project cut the need for drivers by about 80% and raised daily operating time by 16%, though it has not published detailed figures. It estimates the trucks save about 12,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. At the neighbouring Julong mine, EACON is fitting 18 diesel NTE240 haul trucks with its autonomous technology.