Tag Archives: MineRP

Epiroc prepared for more order records after strong Q2

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Record orders received, high revenue growth and improved profitability were all part of Epiroc’s June quarter financial results as the OEM also made significant headway on its diesel-to-battery-electric retrofit plan to help electrify the mining sector.

Orders received increased 37% to a record high of SEK11.07 billion ($1.27 billion). This corresponds to 45% organic growth compared with the June quarter of 2020, the company said, noting that the 2020 three-month period was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within this, equipment had the highest organic order growth of 76%, supported by a few large orders, such as an underground mining equipment order from Mexican contractor CoMinVi for use at several mines throughout the country.

The aftermarket also had a strong development, with organic growth of 26% for service and 42% for Tools & Attachments, Epiroc noted.

On the electrification front, Epiroc also highlighted that the June quarter had seen the company win several orders for battery-electric equipment, including one from Ivanplats for the Platreef project in South Africa, while receiving the first orders for its diesel-to-battery retrofit solution. The latter is starting with the conversion of diesel ST1030 loaders to battery-electric versions.

Revenues increased 15% to SEK9.733 billion in the June quarter, while operating profit and operating margin rose 54% and 22.4% to SEK2.182 billion and 22.4%, respectively.

The period was also characterised by several acquisitions, including the purchase of Australia-based Kinetic Logging Services, Canada-based 3D-P, and South Africa-based MineRP. Chile-based Mining TAG and Meglab, based in Canada, also came into the Epiroc fold in earlier July.

Speaking to IM just after the results came out, Helena Hedblom, Epiroc President and CEO, said the company had seen the automation, digitalisation and electrification trends observed across industry accelerate in these regions, among others, since the emergence of COVID-19.

“We see that different regions are ahead in terms of different capabilities,” she said. “We have seen a lot around digitalisation and automation in Australia, and, in Canada, when it comes to electrification, there are a lot of things happening. South Africa is strong when it comes to software and, on top of that, there are some regional players serving the sector like Mining TAG.

“We, as Epiroc, can come with our global footprint and help these regional players go abroad and roll out the technology on a global level.”

These acquisitions have seen the company’s staffing contingent swell in the last year. At the end of June, Epiroc said it had 14,569 employees across the globe, compared with 13,967 a year earlier, tied mainly to these acquisitions. Indeed, the three companies acquired during the June quarter came with 430 employees in total.

At the end of 2019, prior to the global onset of the pandemic, Epiroc had 14,268 employees on its books.

While Hedblom acknowledged much of the staffing increase was on the back of acquisitions, she did say the company was ramping-up additional workforce in “manufacturing, in supply chain and in service”.

And looking back to the rationalisation carried out across the company during the height of COVID-19 worries – which saw a notice of termination provided to 425 employees in Sweden and the consolidation of the manufacturing of exploration drilling tools in Canada – Hedblom said the company had since repositioned itself for the type of growth it was now experiencing.

“When we did the correction last year, we addressed a lot related to, mainly, admin and back office. With these acquisitions coming on board, of course, the majority of employees are technology-related people…software developers and service people to manage the technology out in the field.”

And, lastly, when it comes to the capacity to keeping up with record orders, Hedblom said: “We have a very flexible manufacturing setup where we do the final assembly, in house, and a lot of the pre-assembly is done by some external suppliers. That is how we are – and have always – managed swings in order volumes.

“We can also add more capacity if needed in our assembly lines. We are not regionally limited there; being able to use the different facilities we have in both the US and Sweden, in addition to China and India. We can balance that demand between the sites.”

Inspire Resources and MineRP to collaborate on new digital mining tools

Environmental, IoT, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Inspire Resources and MineRP have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on creating new digital tools for each others platforms.

The agreement is expected to lead to the development of tools for both the Mineral Impulse™ business model and the MineRP platform.

Inspire Resources is a Canada-based corporation formed in 2019 to implement a new mining-centred business model for community-owned development projects. Its current focus is transforming the design process for speed, flexibility, transparency and community participation.

“We are consulting to mining company clients who are looking for imaginative new approaches,” the company explains.

It added: “We are preparing for a time when the community becomes the customer for Mining-as-a-Service (MaaS), and we intend to be the first MaaS prime contractor.”

MineRP, meanwhile, is an independent software vendor focused on the development of a platform that serves the mining industry through integrating all mine technical systems into a single spatial temporal platform. The company is in the process of being taken over by Epiroc.

Inspire Resources President, Andy Reynolds, said: “Our discussions with MineRP began even before we incorporated Inspire Resources; we share a positive outlook on transformative opportunities in mining, and this collaboration will be a very welcome boost to the start-up path for Inspire Resources.”

Pieter Nel, CEO of MineRP, added: “MineRP realises that creating and sustaining real value to mines requires an ecosystem of partners. We are delighted to partner with mines and innovative companies like Inspire Resources to bring solutions focused on the interests of both mines and communities to the industry.”

Epiroc strengthens digitalisation offering with MineRP acquisition

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Epiroc has agreed to acquire MineRP, a software company majority owned by Dundee Precious Metals that specialises in increasing productivity for mines through integrated planning, execution and analytics.

MineRP has offices in South Africa, Canada, Australia and Chile. The company supports large and medium-sized mines globally in strengthening and optimising their operational efficiency by providing a software platform solution that integrates all technical mining data and other information such as machine data and ERP systems. MineRP has about 200 employees and had revenues of about $16 million for the 12 months ending June 30, 2020.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, said: “This acquisition fits well into Epiroc’s focus on supporting mining companies on their digitalisation journey. The combination of MineRP’s platform capabilities with Epiroc’s digital solutions, partners and global presence has the potential to transform the way that mines operate.

“MineRP is a high-quality software provider with significant experience of connecting mines from pit to port and, together, we will continue to make mining customers’ operations even more smart, safe and seamless.”

The business will become part of Epiroc’s Digital & Technology division.

While Epiroc did not disclose the acquisition price, in a separate press release Dundee Precious Metals said the consideration for its fully-diluted 70% equity interest in MineRP and the repayment of DPM shareholder loans included:

  • Around $40 million in cash representing the estimated portion payable to DPM on closing of the transaction; and
  • Potential additional payments in the form of an earn-out of up to $28.7 million representing the portion payable to DPM upon the achievement of certain MineRP revenue targets in 2021 and 2022.

The acquisition is expected to be completed, after regulatory approvals, in the first half of 2021.

MineRP, IsoMetrix to combine mining risk and production management tools

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South Africa-based, mining-focused software companies MineRP and IsoMetrix have announced a formal partnership that will, they say, offer the market an unmatched advantage in integrated risk and production management.

The two companies’ software products provide a combined ecosystem to facilitate real-time management of risk, hazards and critical controls, underpinned by three-dimensional spatial visualisation.

Paul Marketos, Co-Founder of IsoMetrix, said the partnership with MineRP “is a huge differentiator for us in the market. Our mining customers can now spatially visualise their EHS (environmental, health and safety) risks as they relate to production, in an integrated way”.

Empie Strydom, VP of Marketing at MineRP, said risk was, in the past, seen as a compliance function. “But, now we understand that risk management is a key component of a mining company’s performance and production,” he said. “The clearer – and more integrated – a view of risk the mine has, the more easily these risks can be managed and the lower its costs will be.”

Marketos added: “In most mines, the EHS function operates in isolation from production. Our combined offering integrates EHS activities into production. For example, you can schedule safety inspections automatically on the back of production data that feeds directly into IsoMetrix. The MineRP Short Interval Control solutions will ensure all daily tasks across EHS and production activities are scheduled and monitored.”

Focusing on resource-based economies, both companies have offices in the Americas and Australia.