Vale Base Metals just last week announced it is proceeding with the Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) project at its Salobo Copper Complex in Brazil, representing a step change that will significantly increase processing and production capacity with exceptional project economics – it is expected to add 6 Mt to the Salobo III plant’s annual ore processing capacity (12 to 18 Mt/y, while reducing energy consumption by ~10%), bringing overall processing capacity to 42 Mt/y.
In tandem with this major processing development, the operation has just gone live with automation of its Komatsu 930E mining truck fleet using the OEM’s Frontrunner system – after VBM said in its VBM Day presentation in March 2026 that the autonomous fleet was set to increase mine productivity and safety at the operation. The mining strategy at Salobo is to increase total mine movement by ~7% through fleet expansion & autonomous operation.
Deivid Guimarães, VBM AHS Project Manager stated: “The Go-Live of Autonomous Trucks in Salobo represents much more than the implementation of a new technology. It is the result of planning, engineering, innovation, integration, many challenges overcome and, above all, the union of people who believed and worked to turn this project into reality.”
The Salobo mining truck fleet detailed in the December 2025 Technical Report includes a figure of 19 Komatsu 930E trucks along with 10 Komatsu 830Es, 17 Caterpillar 797s and four Caterpillar 794s. Loading tools include four Bucyrus-Erie 495HD rope shovels and one Bucyrus-Erie 495HR along with four Komatsu PC5500 hydraulic units and two Komatsu L-1850 wheel loaders.
The Salobo operations primarily use large electric rope shovels for ore and waste production. Hydraulic shovels are used for the oxide saprolite and transition material where a lower ground pressure is required. Wheel loaders are used for miscellaneous clean up jobs and for backup of the shovels when needed. A fleet of off-road haul trucks are used to transport material to the waste rock storage facility (WRSF), the stockpiles, or the primary crusher stockpiles. Track dozers are assigned to maintain production areas, WRSFs and bench clean-up. Wheeled dozers, road graders and water trucks complete the remainder of the auxiliary equipment fleet.
Access to the pit is provided by internal ramps designed at a maximum gradient of 10%. Ramp widths vary according to the truck fleet: 35 m for areas operated exclusively by 240 t trucks and 42 m where mixed fleets operate or where 360 t trucks are in use.
Overall, Vale has deployed both Komatsu’s Frontrunner AHS and Caterpillar’s Command for hauling in its iron ore operations. Currently, the Caterpillar system is being used at the Carajas complex, as well as the Brucutu and Capanema mines; with Komatsu trucks also running at Carajas. Salobo has also applied teleoperation to its dozers using Hexagon’s TeleOp system, with 5,000 hours passed in July 2026.
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