A weighbridge in mining is a heavy-duty, precision weighing platform installed at strategic locations within mine sites and at haul road entrances or exits, used to measure the mass of vehicles, ore loads, waste material, reagents, fuel, and other commodities being transported to, from, or within the operation. In bauxite, gold, iron ore, and diamond mining, weighbridges serve critical functions in production accounting, payload management, truck fleet optimization, inventory control, and commercial ore sales. Weighbridges used in mining are engineered to accommodate the extreme axle loads of large haul trucks, with capacity ratings commonly exceeding 500 tonnes for the heaviest ultra-class mining vehicles used in iron ore and coal operations. Static weighbridges require a vehicle to stop fully on the platform before a reading is taken, whereas weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems allow slower-moving vehicles to be weighed without stopping, improving throughput at high-traffic checkpoints. In iron ore operations, weighbridges at train loading facilities and port stockyard conveyors are critical for ensuring accurate measurement of ore tonnages exported against ship cargo manifests and contractual specifications. In bauxite refinery operations, weighbridges record incoming ore tonnages to calculate refinery feed rates and ore-to-alumina conversion ratios. For gold and diamond operations where the valuable product is much smaller in volume, the weighbridge is more relevant for reagent receipt verification, fuel delivery reconciliation, and bulk sample management. Weighbridge data is integrated with mine management systems to provide real-time production dashboards and enable automated truck dispatch optimization.
