Inner Mongolia Mobile's 5G Private Network Empowers 100-Ton Mining Trucks to Run Autonomously at Huolinhe Mine

At the Huolinhe South Open-Pit Coal Mine of State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Inner Mongolia, a 136-ton-rated “behemoth” smoothly shuttles across the stripping face—the cab is completely empty, yet the vehicle can precisely complete the entire process of loading, hauling, and dumping. Recently, the AT150, China's first 100-ton-class pure-electric bidirectional unmanned mining dump truck, jointly developed by SPIC and Northern Heavy Industries, was put into operation here, marking another major breakthrough for China's large-scale open-pit mining heavy-haul equipment in intelligence, electrification, and domestic production. As the project's core communication technology supporter, Inner Mongolia Tongliao Mobile built a highly reliable 5G private network digital foundation, creating a communication “nerve center” for the smart operations of domestically produced heavy mining trucks.

Automotive wheel hub bearings rely on micron-level precision to ensure driving safety, while 100-ton mining trucks rely on millisecond-level networks to ensure operational safety. Traditional public networks have coverage blind spots and latency fluctuations in mining areas, making it difficult to support unmanned operation of heavy-haul vehicles. Now, autonomous mining trucks travel at high speeds back and forth in the mine, and every turn, brake, and dump depends on low-latency, highly reliable mobile networks for real-time transmission of control commands.

Addressing the complex operating environment of the Huolinhe mining area—large terrain undulations, extreme cold, and heavy dust—Tongliao Mobile conducted specialized network planning and optimization in advance. Using multi-frequency converged networking and core network edge deployment technology, it achieved local offloading and security isolation of production data, covering all core production areas including stripping, dumping, and crushing with 5G private network. End-to-end latency is below 30 milliseconds, ensuring data stays within the mine, and can meet the connectivity needs of 40,000 terminals including autonomous mining trucks and remote-controlled drill rigs.

“Leveraging 5G's high-bandwidth and low-latency characteristics, the mining truck's environmental perception data and driving control commands can be transmitted in real time with instant response, enabling stable vehicle operation even under complex road conditions,” said the project lead. The 5G private network not only solved the problem of devices “being able to connect” but also ensured operations “run stably” through core network edge deployment. Production data is processed locally at the mine, reducing network latency while safeguarding the bottom line of mine data security.

Open-pit coal and rock hauling operations feature harsh environments and high labor intensity. Traditional manual driving modes face pain points including difficulty in recruiting personnel, high safety risks, and transportation efficiency easily disrupted by human factors. The mining truck put into operation this time integrates three core technologies—pure-electric drive, bidirectional travel, and autonomous driving—targeting the practical challenges of mine production.

Supported by the 5G private network, the mining truck achieves fully unmanned operations across the entire workflow: during loading, it automatically aligns with the shovel; during hauling, it precisely follows the planned route; during dumping, it automatically aligns with the spoil dump. The bidirectional travel architecture allows the truck to travel back and forth directly in narrow working faces without turning around, effectively improving transfer efficiency. Pure-electric power replaces diesel, further reducing the mine's carbon emissions.

Leveraging the integrated “5G + AI + Cloud” technical capabilities, the mining area has consolidated its safety production foundation while improving scheduling efficiency and reducing operating costs, with the intelligence level of production significantly enhanced. The successful deployment of the equipment not only represents a technological breakthrough for domestic 100-ton-class pure-electric bidirectional autonomous mining trucks but also fully validates the adaptability and support capability of China Mobile's 5G private network in heavy-duty industrial scenarios.

As a communications central enterprise rooted in the grasslands, Tongliao Mobile continues to focus on the digital transformation of the energy industry, deepening the deployment of 5G industrial private networks and edge computing in mining scenarios, and refining customized communication solutions adapted to extreme cold and complex terrain environments.

From the Huolinhe autonomous mining truck pilot to the intelligent upgrade of mining enterprises, 5G digital technology continues to inject new momentum into the grasslands' traditional energy base. The deployment of this mining truck not only tested the technological maturity of domestically produced large-scale mining equipment but also accumulated practical reference samples for 5G private network construction and digital-intelligent transformation of mines in cold regions. In the future, as more new technologies and equipment are put into field application, the traditional open-pit mines on the grasslands will continue to unleash new potential for green and intelligent transformation.

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