Heavy equipment manufacturer Komatsu has reached an historic milestone in autonomous mining, commissioning its one-thousandth autonomous ultra-class haul truck equipped with the company’s FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage System.

“The milestone reinforces Komatsu’s position as the pioneer and global leader in autonomous haulage, having been [the] first to market with a commercial autonomous mining solution in 2008 and now the first original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) to commission 1 000 autonomous ultra-class trucks worldwide,” the manufacturer says in a media release.

The one-thousandth commissioned autonomous haul truck is a Komatsu 930E-5AT, an ultra-class electric drive truck (EDT) with a 290 t payload, which has been deployed at Barrick Mining Corporation’s Nevada Gold Mines operation, in the US, marking a significant milestone that extends Komatsu’s autonomous haulage into gold mining with a key strategic partner.

The 930E-5AT is part of Komatsu’s electric drive haul truck lineup that underpins FrontRunner deployments around the world.

The 930E ultra-class EDT stands as the most widely deployed model, representing more than 500 autonomous trucks across customer sites today, Komatsu states.

Beyond haulage, Komatsu says it continues to expand automation across mine site operations, including through the use of autonomous water trucks to help further improve safety, reduce manual equipment interactions and support road maintenance.

The company notes that additional autonomous and remotely operated equipment within Komatsu’s unified control and fleet management framework extends automation beyond individual machines to deliver mine-wide performance gains at the system level.

Since its commercial introduction, Komatsu says its customers using FrontRunner have collectively moved more than 11.5-billion tonnes of material, demonstrating the scale, reliability and productivity of autonomous haulage across some of the world’s most demanding mining environments.

Deployed at mine sites across North America, South America, Australia and Europe, FrontRunner’s global footprint and support infrastructure spans diverse commodities and operating conditions.

Beyond operational performance, Komatsu says FrontRunner generated about $2.4-billion in social impact globally in 2024 based on impact accounting methodologies developed jointly by Capitals Coalition and Value Balancing Alliance, analysed by ABeam Consulting and reported in the ‘Komatsu Report 2025’.

The company adds that its latest milestone builds on Komatsu’s recent achievement of autonomously operating a power agnostic EDT, while connected to a dynamic trolley line - an industry first that demonstrated the integration of autonomous haulage with advanced electrification technologies.

Together, the company says, these accomplishments underscore Komatsu’s ability to deliver solutions that enhance productivity while supporting customers’ decarbonisation and sustainability objectives.

“Commissioning our one-thousandth autonomous haul truck is a defining moment for Komatsu and for the mining industry. It reflects nearly two decades of innovation, collaboration with our customers and a relentless focus on creating real operational value.

“We are incredibly proud of this milestone, and even more excited about what lies ahead as we continue to advance autonomous, electrified and software-defined solutions that help our customers operate more safely, productively and sustainably,” says Komatsu mining business division president and Komatsu Mining Corporation CEO Peter Salditt.

Komatsu says customers continue to play a central role in shaping the evolution of autonomous haulage, with FrontRunner delivering measurable benefits in asset utilisation and safety while enabling new pathways for energy efficiency and emissions reduction.

The company says partnerships such as Komatsu’s work with Barrick at Nevada Gold Mines demonstrate how autonomy is creating shared value while expanding into new commodities, regions and operating environments.

“FrontRunner has elevated both the quality of work for our people and the way we meet production goals at our Nevada operations,” says Barrick president and CEO Mark Hill.

“By transitioning operators away from haulage activities and enabling more predictable operations, autonomy supports safer, more skilled roles while helping us use energy more efficiently and reduce our environmental footprint.

“Together with Komatsu, we see a significant opportunity to advance productivity further while benefiting our workforce and community.”

Looking forward, Komatsu says it is accelerating the next generation of autonomous mining equipment through the advancement of a software-defined vehicle strategy.

By developing a unified vehicle and autonomy platform, the company says it is laying the foundation for mining machines that continuously evolve, adapt to site-specific conditions and unlock new levels of productivity and sustainability over the life of the asset.

Komatsu says it remains focused on creating value for customers by delivering solutions that help meet rising demands for essential minerals and safer operations.