On August 12, SANY held a shipment ceremony for its autonomous mining trucks at the SANY Heavy Equipment industrial park in Shenyang. The first batch of SKT110Ei battery-electric autonomous mining trucks officially departed the facility and will soon be shipped overseas.
The delivery marks the first autonomous mining truck project to be deployed in South America, representing a major milestone for China’s autonomous mining technology as it enters the Latin American market.
Addressing Labor Shortages and Rising Mining Costs
Mining companies around the world are facing growing pressure from shortages of professional drivers, rising labor costs and increasingly demanding safety requirements.
Against this backdrop, autonomous haulage is becoming an important solution for improving productivity, reducing operating costs and minimizing personnel exposure to hazardous mining environments.
After conducting a comprehensive evaluation of several leading global suppliers, the customer selected SANY to provide a complete autonomous mining solution.
The project includes:
- Autonomous mining trucks
- Intelligent fleet dispatching systems
- Technical support
- Operation and maintenance services
SANY developed a customized solution based on the specific haulage conditions of the overseas mine, focusing on three core objectives: safe production, lower operating costs and improved efficiency, and reduced personnel risk.
Integrated Equipment, Technology and Global Service Capabilities
SANY’s competitive advantage lies not only in equipment manufacturing, but also in its integrated capabilities across technology development and overseas lifecycle services.
For this project, SANY combined vehicle engineering, autonomous driving technology and international field support to create a solution tailored to the customer’s operating environment.
The company’s extensive operating experience in large-scale Chinese mines also played an important role in securing customer confidence.
Winning South America’s first autonomous mining truck project reflects SANY’s long-term investment in mining automation, manufacturing expertise and global market development.
More Than 300 Autonomous Mining Trucks in Operation
SANY Smart Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of SANY International, focuses on the development of digital, green and intelligent mines.
The company has established a fully integrated technology chain covering:
- Drive-by-wire chassis systems
- Multi-sensor perception
- AI-based decision-making algorithms
- Autonomous driving systems
- Cloud-based intelligent fleet dispatching
Its core technologies are independently developed and controlled.
As of July 2026, SANY Smart Mining had deployed more than 300 autonomous mining trucks in commercial operations, including large open-pit mines in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai.
The fleet has accumulated more than 13 million kilometers of safe autonomous operation and transported over 41 million cubic meters of earth and rock, providing extensive real-world validation under demanding mining conditions.
SKT110Ei Combines Electrification with Autonomous Driving
The SANY SKT110Ei is a battery-electric autonomous mining truck designed for high reliability, high availability and low energy consumption.
Equipped with SANY’s independently developed full-stack autonomous driving system, the truck can operate with reduced dependence on human drivers while helping mining operators improve fleet efficiency and control operating costs.
The combination of electrification and automation also supports the broader transformation of traditional mining operations toward lower-emission, safer and more intelligent production models.
Expanding Autonomous Mining Solutions Globally
SANY Smart Mining plans to use the South American project as a starting point for further international expansion.
Supported by SANY’s global service network, the company will provide technical assistance, maintenance and operational support to help ensure stable and efficient project implementation.
At the same time, SANY will continue investing in autonomous mining technology, optimizing its products and integrated solutions for different operating environments worldwide.
As mining companies increasingly pursue automation, decarbonization and higher productivity, projects such as this demonstrate how Chinese-developed autonomous equipment is moving from domestic large-scale validation into global commercial deployment.
