Mining companies worldwide are under pressure to cut carbon emissions without compromising productivity.

One of the most effective ways to achieve this balance is through autonomy paired with intelligent dispatching.

By leveraging real-time data and advanced scheduling algorithms, dispatch platforms can optimise fleet performance, reduce idle time and unnecessary energy use, and ultimately lower emissions per unit of output.

Specialised fleet dispatch algorithms (e.g. solving vehicle routing problems) can significantly trim haul truck fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by minimising travel distances and idle periods. Mining operators have observed that "from improving cycle times to reducing idle time, autonomy is a key tool in to reduce emissions and environmental harm" while maintaining or even boosting productivity.

So how does autonomy make this possible?

Route and Task Optimisation

Autonomous haulage fleets follow precisely calculated routes designed to minimise empty trips and detours, reducing overall haul distances. Dynamic scheduling allocates tasks in real time based on road conditions, vehicle location and task urgency, ensuring trucks operate at maximum efficiency with consistent cycle times.

Equipment Energy Management

Idle time is one of the biggest sources of wasted fuel in mining operations. When trucks sit waiting (for loaders, in queues, or during shift changes) they burn fuel while doing no work. Intelligent dispatching greatly reduces such idling by better coordinating loading and dumping points and smoothing out workflow so that trucks spend more time moving material and less time waiting. Eliminating this unnecessary truck idling can quickly reduce fuel burn and emissions.

In addition, modern autonomous fleet systems leverage integrated sensors and telematics to track energy use (fuel or battery power) for each vehicle in real time. The dispatch platform knows exactly how much fuel or charge each task consumes and can make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency. The system can also provide eco-driving recommendations or automatically govern certain behaviours to reduce consumption. For instance, trucks run under autonomous control follow optimised driving patterns and controlled speeds that avoid excessive engine revving, thereby lowering fuel burn and greenhouse emissions. Some advanced haulage platforms even include smart modes that balance engine output for fuel economy during transport segments. All of these measures – cutting idling, monitoring fuel usage per cycle, and smoothing out driving patterns – combine to significantly reduce energy waste in a mining fleet's operations. EACON’s ORCASTRA solution has launched this feature with their hybrid electric truck solutions.

Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Dispatching

As mines transition to using hybrid and battery-electric haul trucks, dispatching becomes even more critical to manage these new assets effectively. Autonomy allows sites to prioritise electric trucks for the most suitable tasks, ensuring those zero-emission vehicles are used where they can have maximum impact in offsetting diesel usage. An intelligent dispatch system can decide in real time which truck (electric vs. diesel) should take a given haul based on factors like haul distance, battery state-of-charge, and required power, thereby optimising the fleet's overall emissions profile. Moreover, autonomous fleet management includes coordinating charging and refuelling schedules as part of the dispatch plan. The latest autonomous haulage solutions feature built-in energy management that "intelligently coordinates energy management across the fleet of autonomous vehicles, ensuring efficient operations without idle time for recharging”. In practice, the dispatch system continuously monitors each electric truck's battery levels and will assign charging or battery-swapping tasks at optimal times.

It effectively aligns haul assignments with charging cycles to prevent downtime or productivity loss. This means an electric truck will go charge (or swap batteries) at a time that doesn't bottleneck production, while another truck covers the next load, all decided autonomously by the system.

Crucially, autonomy platforms are power-source agnostic, they can manage mixed fleets of diesel, hybrid, and electric haul trucks under one unified schedule. For example, EACON's autonomous solution has been deployed on over 2000 haul trucks (about 80% diesel hybrid and 20% pure electric), using the same intelligent dispatch to run trucks regardless of power type. This enables mines to incrementally introduce electric vehicles and still maintain smooth operations. By assigning electric trucks to the most appropriate routes (e.g. shorter or flatter routes that they can complete on a charge) and cycling them out for charging with minimal idle time, an autonomous dispatch system ensures maximum emissions reduction benefit from new electric fleet additions.

Fleet Utilisation Improvement

Carbon reduction is not just about the technology on individual vehicles, but also about how the entire fleet is managed. An intelligent dispatch system can balance the workload across all trucks, preventing overuse of certain units and underuse of others. This balanced utilisation means you get more total output from the same fleet with fewer redundant operating hours. In turn, that translates to lower overall fuel or energy consumption and emissions for a given amount of material moved. A case in point, after introducing a modern fleet management and dispatch system, Holcim's Lynwood quarry in Australia saw daily haulage improve from around 13,000-14,000 tonnes per shift to as much as 18,000 tonnes per shift with the same number of trucks. In other words, better dispatching enabled ~30% more production using the existing fleet, indicating more efficient use of each truck's time and capacity.

Intelligent dispatching also reduces wear-and-tear and extends equipment life by ensuring trucks are used at optimal levels rather than sporadically or excessively. Smoother operations (like consistent speeds, less stop-and-go idling, and avoiding overloads) mean less stress on engines, tires, and brakes. Data from autonomous haulage deployments back this up, Caterpillar observed that its autonomous trucks achieved up to 30% productivity gains and recorded zero lost-time injuries in 90 million miles, while Komatsu noted a 40% improvement in tire and brake life thanks to the more controlled, even operating patterns of autonomous trucks.

By spreading work evenly and avoiding inefficient practices (like having extra trucks running just in case, or the same few trucks doing most of the work), fleets waste less energy and resources. In essence, more output with fewer total engine hours not only cuts costs but also lowers emissions, since every avoided hour of running a diesel engine prevents fuel burn and carbon output.

Autonomy for Net Zero

Autonomy is making mines safer, more efficient, and greener, and is increasingly seen as a key enabler on the path to net zero emissions. By combining electric and hybrid haulage with intelligent dispatching, operators can significantly reduce their carbon footprint while actually improving productivity. Each optimisation from smarter route planning to balanced fleet utilisation brings the industry closer to net zero goals by shaving off waste and replacing fossil fuel use with clean energy. Mining companies are explicitly linking automation to their climate targets. For example, South32's new Hermosa mine project in Arizona is being designed as its first "next generation mine", one that "harnesses] automation and other technology to drive efficiencies, minimise environmental impact and ultimately to target a carbon-neutral operation" in line with the company's net zero commitments. Real-world deployments are proving that autonomous electric haulage can deliver tangible emissions cuts: at the Hongshaquan coal mine in China, the introduction of 52 battery-electric autonomous trucks has created "a scalable pathway toward zero-carbon transport" and is delivering measurable reductions in CO2 emissions on site. Industry leaders are increasingly confident that autonomy is pivotal for decarbonising mining. Fortescue Metals Group, who are rolling out a large autonomous BEV fleet, stated that a fully integrated autonomous haulage system will be "a game changer for us in reducing our carbon emissions”.

At EACON Mining Technology, we are committed to helping mines accelerate this transition. Our autonomy solution is designed not only to deliver substantial safety and productivity gains, but also to enable measurable carbon reduction across global mining operations. By leveraging the optimisations outlined above route and task efficiency, energy-smart dispatching for hybrid/EV fleets, and maximised fleet utilisation autonomous mining is driving us toward a safer, more productive, and net-zero future.