Launch of Cat Minestar system at Bull Run quarry

Trucks at Luck Stone’s Bull Run quarry (Photo: Caterpillar)

Caterpillar has reported the successful implementation of its Cat Minestar autonomous truck operating system at the Bull Run quarry in Chantilly, Virgina.

In December 2022, quarry owner Luck Stone and Caterpillar announced an agreement to accelerate the development of Caterpillar’s autonomous solutions for quarry and aggregate applications. Since then, work has been continuing to build expertise in quarry operations and deliver a scalable system which could be delivered to other customers in the quarrying industry.

In addition to testing of the trucks, the work at Bull Run further included training workers, establishing related protocols and implementation of the required networks.

The control network at the quarry can now support ‘dozens’ of trucks operating around the clock.

According to Caterpillar, this is the first deployment of autonomous vehicle tech in the aggregates industry. It further expands the list of vehicles which offer autonomous operation to the 90-tonne class (100-ton class) Cat 777.

“Congratulations to both the Luck Stone and Caterpillar teams for this outstanding achievement. It’s meaningful not just for Bull Run operations, but for our customers of all sizes as we develop new technologies to serve the quarry and aggregates as well as construction industries,” said Denise Johnson, group president of Caterpillar’s Resource Industries.

She continued: “This hands-on collaboration has accelerated our ability to scale our proven mining solution for this sector.”

Caterpillar reports that its autonomous trucks have travelled more than 325 million km and moved more than 8.62 billion tonnes of material.