$Vale SA (VALE.US)$ The world's largest iron ore producer Va...

$Vale SA (VALE.US)$ The world's largest iron ore producer Vale said on Thursday that the company has started using autonomous trucks for the first time in the Carajas mine, while continuing to expand the use of driverless technology. Carajás Iron Mine is located in the Para state in northern Brazil. It is the largest iron ore in the world and the second largest iron ore production center in the world.

Pedro Bemfica, an executive responsible for the autonomous driving technology project, said that Vale hopes to increase productivity and safety by using these trucks to transport iron ore.

Vale’s six self-driving trucks in the Carajás mine are almost twice as tall as conventional trucks, more than three times as wide as conventional trucks, and can load 320 tons of iron ore. The company plans to add four more self-driving trucks by the end of this year