By Neville Judd
Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi (OT) mine in Mongolia began shipping copper in 2013. It’s one of the world’s largest copper operations, directly employing 10,000 people in its open pit and underground operations.
Hexagon solutions are long-established at the mine in the south Gobi Desert, including mine planning software, particle-size distribution cameras, and georadar survey equipment.
The recent rollout of Hexagon Collision Avoidance System (CAS) takes OT’s safety proposition to a new level.
There’s no shortage of industry bodies that continue to point to vehicle interactions consistently being a top fatality driver in mining. Powered haulage and mobile equipment incidents remain among the leading causes of fatalities and high-potential events across surface and underground operations, according to both the International Council on Mining and Metals and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT) continues to flag “Vehicle Interaction” risk as a critical part of its work, informing functional performance expectations for proximity detection and collision avoidance systems.
A mine the size of OT and its location brings a varied mix of challenging conditions: Multiple service providers and OEMs must navigate dust, low light and night operations, and seasonal weather extremes.
To address the risk of collisions, Rio Tinto turned to Hexagon and CAS. CAS is the industry’s leading collision avoidance solution for protecting drivers and equipment, providing 360-degree NLOS (non-line-of-sight propagation) operator awareness for vehicles, assets and operators – through snow, rain, fog and dust.
More than 65,000 CAS units are deployed in over 100 open pit and underground mine sites worldwide, the largest global install base on the market.
In a series of interviews, Khorolsuren (Khoggy) Ganzorig, Superintendent Mine Support, Oyu Tolgoi, explained the decision to adopt CAS.
Watch the video below to learn more.
“Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi have a really big ambition to eliminate fatality incidents related to vehicle interaction,” said Ganzorig. “To fulfil that ambition, we looked for a good system that can contribute to our journey.
“The way Hexagon develops their product is very good. They not only reflect the technology trends, but they also try to incorporate the industry trends and then also the user needs.”
Munkhsukh (Muugii) Bayar, Project Manager, Oyu Tolgoi Mine, said CAS is already making a good impression.
“Currently, we have deployed the system (CAS) at Level 7 and 8 (EMESRT), which is the collision awareness and then collision avoidance level,” said Bayar. “We have installed the Hexagon CAS devices on over 200 pieces of equipment.
“As well, we have trained over 1,000 people since we started the deployment. We also started receiving some positive feedback from the operators, how it’s helping them for their daily work. We see it as a support tool for operators to do their work even safer.”
In July 2025, Hexagon announced the integration of CAS with its Operator Alertness System (OAS 7.5). The integration enables automatic capture and display of predicted collision event videos, giving safety personnel a real-time window into critical events and operator performance.
Read more about the integration here.
Hexagon is dedicated to supporting the future of mining in Mongolia and is establishing a permanent presence there. This will allow us to fulfil a commitment to providing localised support for a growing partnership with Oyu Tolgoi and the broader mining industry in Mongolia.
Throughout 2025 we’ll be blogging about the challenges facing the mining industry. Drawing upon insights from thought leaders in our customer community and from within Hexagon, we’ll share how trusted partnerships and proven technology are addressing those challenges, helping to improve safety and cut costs while balancing the demands of productivity and sustainability.