{"id":"66748553-6793-49e0-8507-bf568b41d36e","slug":"collision-2023-08-01-caterpillar-mining","kind":"collision","headline":"Autonomous Cat truck hit excavator at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance Goonyella mine after communications loss","summary":"A loss of communications on an autonomous circuit at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance's Goonyella open pit coal mine in Queensland, Australia led to an autonomous Caterpillar truck reversing into a manually-operated excavator. The excavator operator had grounded the bucket and exited the cab, then communication was restored and the truck reversed toward the excavator, hitting it and damaging the stick cylinder. No injuries were reported. This was the first known autonomous truck-excavator collision in Australia.","occurredAt":"2023-08-01T12:00:00.000Z","reviewStatus":"unreviewed","modelId":"978cc3ba-624d-4403-8544-3a5d2202fa8d","deploymentId":null,"companyId":"d3b6da29-8d1c-4a6a-ac48-28dd7dc3fd8e","aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"none","reviewNote":null,"severity":"moderate","rootCauseCategory":null,"rootCauseDetail":null,"affectedUnitsCount":null,"affectedUnitsBasis":null,"remediationStatus":null,"regulatoryAction":"inquiry_opened","regulatoryBody":"Queensland Mines Inspectorate / RSHQ","propertyDamageEstimateUsd":null,"damageEstimateBasis":null,"bodilyInjurySeverity":null,"fatalityCount":null,"lossCostClass":null,"sourceQualityTier":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:05.438Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:05.438Z","model":{"id":"978cc3ba-624d-4403-8544-3a5d2202fa8d","companyId":"d3b6da29-8d1c-4a6a-ac48-28dd7dc3fd8e","modelName":"Cat MineStar Command for Hauling","slug":"cat-minestar-command-for-hauling","description":"Cat MineStar Command for Hauling is Caterpillar's autonomous haulage system (AHS) for mining trucks, enabling fully driverless operation of haul trucks in open-pit mines. First introduced in 2013, it has been deployed with 15+ customers across three continents, with nearly 700 autonomous trucks hauling over 11 billion tonnes of material without a single reported injury.","formFactor":"truck","maturityStage":"production","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByModelId":null,"specs":{},"manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://www.caterpillar.com/en/news/caterpillarNews/2026/cat-autonomy-solutions.html","title":"Cat Autonomy Solutions","sourceName":"Caterpillar"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"manufacturerTermForTeleop":null,"keyFacts":[],"createdAt":"2026-07-04T09:02:52.226Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:10.158Z"},"deployment":null,"company":{"id":"d3b6da29-8d1c-4a6a-ac48-28dd7dc3fd8e","name":"Caterpillar Mining","slug":"caterpillar-mining","description":"Caterpillar Mining is the mining division of [Caterpillar](/companies/caterpillar), the world's leading construction and mining equipment manufacturer. Its Cat MineStar Command for hauling autonomous haulage system (AHS) is one of the most proven in the industry, with nearly 700 autonomous trucks operating across three continents and over 11 billion tonnes of material hauled autonomously as of 2026. Caterpillar targets over 2,000 autonomous trucks by 2030 and is expanding autonomy into quarry and construction applications.","status":"active","founded":1925,"hq":"Irving, Texas, USA","fundingTotal":null,"type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://www.caterpillar.com/","title":"Caterpillar","date_accessed":"2026-06-07"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Focus","value":"Mining equipment"},{"label":"HQ","value":"Irving, TX"},{"label":"Parent","value":"Caterpillar"},{"label":"Stage","value":"Public company (NYSE: CAT)"},{"label":"CEO","value":"Joe Creed (Chairman & CEO, Caterpillar Inc.)"},{"label":"Autonomous fleet","value":"690 trucks (end-2024), targeting 2000+ by 2030"},{"label":"Material hauled","value":"11+ billion tonnes autonomously"},{"label":"Parent company","value":"Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT)"}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-08T04:57:17.844Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:09.771Z"},"derived":{"status":"active"},"sources":[{"id":"e16758e5-0183-43ce-b1b8-ebffbd2a77a9","incidentId":"66748553-6793-49e0-8507-bf568b41d36e","url":"https://www.miningmonthly.com/technology/news-articles/1464235/implications-autonomous-truck-incident","label":null,"publishedAt":null,"notes":null,"title":"Implications of an autonomous truck incident","sourceName":"Australia's Mining Monthly","mediaType":"article","videoId":null,"channel":null,"durationSec":null,"timestampSec":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:05.827Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:05.827Z"}],"responses":[],"statusEvents":[{"id":"c2905b39-a366-448f-8815-7758773c17da","incidentId":"66748553-6793-49e0-8507-bf568b41d36e","status":"active","reason":null,"source":"agent:depth","effectiveAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:06.213Z","createdAt":"2026-07-04T09:04:06.214Z"}],"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/collision-2023-08-01-caterpillar-mining","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/incidents/collision-2023-08-01-caterpillar-mining","headline":"Autonomous Cat truck hit excavator at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance Goonyella mine after communications loss","description":"A loss of communications on an autonomous circuit at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance's Goonyella open pit coal mine in Queensland, Australia led to an autonomous Caterpillar truck reversing into a manually-operated excavator. The excavator operator had grounded the bucket and exited the cab, then communication was restored and the truck reversed toward the excavator, hitting it and damaging the stick cylinder. No injuries were reported. This was the first known autonomous truck-excavator collision in Australia.","identifier":"66748553-6793-49e0-8507-bf568b41d36e","datePublished":"2023-08-01T12:00:00.000Z","articleSection":"collision","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"},"author":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"unreviewed","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":1,"primary_source_types":[]}}}