A driverless mine truck is an automated vehicle designed for mine transportation scenarios. It realizes autonomous driving, automatic loading, automatic unloading, and other functions in the complex environment of mines by integrating advanced sensors (e.g., LIDAR, camera, millimeter-wave radar, etc.), high-precision positioning systems (e.g., differential GPS), intelligent decision-making algorithms, and powerful communication technologies, without the need for manual driving operations.
This kind of vehicle can accurately complete the transportation task of ore, slag and other materials according to the established task instructions within the preset mine transportation routes and areas, and at the same time, it has the ability of automatic obstacle avoidance, path planning, fleet synergy and other capabilities, which effectively improves the efficiency of mine transportation, reduces the labor cost and safety risks, and is an important part of the intelligent development of mines.
The driverless mining card industry chain structure is relatively clear. The industry chain upstream for the sensor, chip, and domain controller, line control chassis, automatic driving algorithms, etc.; the industry chain midstream for the driverless mining card; the industry chain downstream for the mining field.
Several provinces have included the application ratio of driverless mining trucks in the assessment of mine intelligent rating, which has led to a significant reduction in its cost, and the average daily transportation volume of a single truck of driverless mining trucks is 15%-20% higher than that of artificial driving, and the overall production capacity of the mining area has been increased by 10%-15%. Data shows that the number of driverless mining trucks in China’s surface coal mines will be about 2,500 in 2024. The number of driverless mining trucks in China’s surface coal mines is expected to rise to 5,750 by 2025.
From the market structure of China’s driverless mining truck industry by load tonnage, the 100-ton class occupied the most market share, accounting for 46.30%, followed by the 60-70-ton class, accounting for 26.10%, and others accounting for 27.60%. From the perspective of the market structure of China’s unmanned mining truck industry by power system, extended-range wide-body trucks occupied the major market share, accounting for 58.6%, and unmanned mining trucks with other power systems accounted for 41.40%.
Driverless mining trucks impose high technical requirements on enterprises, so there are fewer enterprises in the industry, and the market share is occupied by a few enterprises. The competitive pattern of China’s driverless mining card industry has a CR3 of more than 65%, and the industry shows a pattern of two-player hegemony, with Lingong and Tongli as the main enterprises, accounting for 30.4% and 29.2% respectively.
As a leading domestic mining transportation equipment manufacturer, Tongli has been plowing into the field of off-highway vehicles for nearly 30 years, and with its in-depth understanding of mining conditions and technology accumulation, Tongli has actively laid out its driverless mining truck business in recent years, and has become one of the few headline enterprises with the ability of customized development of mining trucks and full-stack technology integration of automated driving in China. According to the company’s annual report, the company’s revenue in 2024 was 6.144 billion yuan.
