Tag Archives: truck trays

Austin Engineering Chile business wins major new truck tray orders

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, ,

Austin Engineering says it has won more than 100 orders for new truck trays at its Chile business in the first three months of its 2025 financial year (to September 30, 2024).

The orders are collectively worth circa A$35 million ($23 million) and are expected to be delivered before the end of this financial year (to June 30, 2025). The orders represent significant, and potentially ongoing incremental business over the previous year, Austin says.

The bulk of the purchase orders for “first fit” trays to OEMs follow on from an initial small production order to check product quality and capability, awarded earlier and announced to the market in March 2024.

The orders represent an improved revenue outlook for Austin’s Chile business unit following a record revenue year in the 2024 financial year. A successful ramp up of production is likely to see further orders placed with the Chile business for delivery towards the end of the current financial year and into financial year 2026.

The increased orders will require Austin to produce up to circa three times the number of trays per month in the 2025 financial year from its recent production levels. As a result, Austin has deployed its manufacturing improvement team to Chile to assist in planning the production ramp up. The Chile business is already operating at twice the truck tray production rate averaged in its 2024 financial year and is expecting to reach the new required production rate by early 2025. In addition to the OEM orders, expected production levels of Austin’s own brand tray ranges are expected to strengthen alongside continued demand for both new and rebuild mining buckets, including dipper buckets.

Austin is confident these orders represent a new normal in the level of tray production that can be expected in the region in future years and that the contribution of this business unit to group results will become increasingly important, it stated. In the 2024 financial year, the Chile business had a revenue base of A$51.6 million, which included only a minor contribution from the program outlined above. As is usual for Austin customer arrangements they are subject to the regular placement of purchase orders and programs do not commit the customers to minimum orders.

Austin Chile is also reporting strong growth in its bucket business for new buckets and rebuilds. As previously announced, in dipper buckets alone, the Chile team expects to have rebuilt more than 22 dipper buckets at the end of 2024 and is currently building a new large dipper bucket for a local customer.

Austin Chile services the copper mines of northern Chile and southern-central Peru where demand has been very strong, driven by a rise in global demand for copper, which has traded at strong levels this year.

In the 2024 financial year, Austin Chile recorded a 26% year-on-year increase in revenue, with strong recurring revenue of 91%. Growth in the 2025 financial year is expected to comfortably exceed that level.

Austin CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton, said: “This ‘first fit’ tray program represents a significant outcome from the long-term investment in global relationships that Austin has made. We believe this style of order could fundamentally change the growth rate of our business not only in Chile but in our other business units if it is duplicated in other regions.

“These contracts and resultant orders required Austin to develop its operational processes, its capabilities, and its teams. The enabling of this ramp-up has been achieved through the investments made under our Austin 2.0 strategy that has focused on customer relations, integrating the business globally, and readying our manufacturing facilities for increased production.”

Austin banks A$25 million truck tray order destined for Western Australia

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, , ,

Austin Engineering says it has now received all the purchase orders expected following a successful tender process last year, plus a further 25% in additional orders, under a single contract for truck trays to be delivered to Western Australia.

The value of the orders received to date is approximately A$25 million ($16.7 million).

The first three trays under this order were delivered ex-works 10 days ago for onward shipment to the customer site. The remaining trays are in, or scheduled for, production at Austin’s facilities in Batam, Indonesia and Perth, Western Australia.

Austin announced in May 2023 it had received 85% of the outstanding purchase orders related to this contract and was awaiting receipt of the final orders, which has now occurred.

Overall order book growth has been maintained. Austin’s group order book to the end of May 2023 is up 21% year-on-year to A$146 million and more than double from the same time two years ago, it says.

Austin CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton, said: “We are very pleased to have received more purchase orders than expected under the financial year 2023 tender contract and can confirm that most of the revenue will be booked in financial year 2024. Further, we have continued to build our financial year 2024 order book, driving an improved revenue outlook.

“Our recently expanded Batam manufacturing centre continues to provide the extra capacity and flexibility we need in our business. With deliveries now scheduled across the world including US, Australia, Europe and India, we are expecting a strong performance for our Batam operations in financial year 2024.”

Austin Engineering delivers Indonesia-made truck trays into Pilbara region

Environmental, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , ,

Austin Engineering Limited has completed the first shipment of fully built and assembled truck trays from its Indonesia facility in Batam, which have been delivered directly into Western Australia’s Pilbara mining region.

The delivery comprised four truck trays that were shipped from Indonesia via Singapore into Port Hedland and then onto the customer site.

Austin recently completed a major expansion and upgrade of its Indonesian facility, which has doubled its manufacturing capacity to address increased demand.

The larger Indonesian facility is allowing Austin, it says, to mitigate the impact of ongoing supply constraints in Western Australia, particularly for skilled fabrication labour, which has been a limiting factor for production.

Alleviating these supply constraints has enabled the company’s local Western Australian facility to maintain more even operational output in line with local labour availability while ensuring Austin’s customers continue to have access to products, it said.

A return of freight costs to pre-pandemic levels has also enabled Austin to augment the shipping of sub-assemblies into Perth for final build (which has been standard practice for some time) with the delivery of full truck trays direct to the Pilbara.

Austin said: “The ability to ship directly from Indonesia to Port Hedland has the added benefit of removing the need for road haulage from Perth to client mine sites in the Pilbara. A reduction in overall transport and logistic requirements has safety, environmental and cost benefits. Specifically, a reduction in road haulage is favourable from a road safety and emissions reduction perspective.”

Further direct deliveries into the Pilbara are being planned with customers to augment Austin’s Australia-based supply, it said.

Austin CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton, said: “We are extremely pleased to see our design and manufacturing strategy starting to work in sync in the Asia Pacific region. The expanded facilities in Perth and Indonesia are allowing more flexibility from a manufacturing and delivery point of view. We have previously shipped truck trays, buckets and other mining equipment directly into Queensland, but it is the first shipment we’ve completed direct to the major mining centre of the Pilbara, and we expect this supply route to become a regular feature of our integrated supply chain.

“We remain committed to Australia as a manufacturing location, exemplified by our two factory units in Kewdale, Perth along with our two operating sites in Queensland. In addition, the majority of the steel we used in Australia and Indonesia is sourced from Australia.“

Austin Engineering’s ultra-lightweight High Performance Tray finds its market

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Austin Engineering says it has received orders for, or been notified of award of, in excess of 210 truck tray orders in the December 2022 to January 2023 period, improving the company’s order book and revenue outlook for the second half of 2023.

The orders over the period represent approximately 40% (approximately 500 expected in the 2023 financial year) of orders received in a normal full year.

These orders have come from multiple customers across the globe and will be manufactured and delivered from Austin’s four operating sites located in the Asia Pacific (Australia and Indonesia), North America (Wyoming) and South America (Chile), it said.

Production of the trays is either already underway or planned to commence shortly, with most of the deliveries scheduled through 2023 but with significant revenue to be booked in the second half of the 2023 financial year.

Approximately 120 of the truck tray orders are for the recently launched, ultra-lightweight High Performance Tray (HPT). The HPT can, according to Austin, deliver significant additional ore per year due to its lighter weight and increased volume efficiency. In an early application, the truck body design could deliver an additional 45,000 t/y of ore per tray compared with previous comparable truck trays developed by Austin.

Austin expects the market interest in the HPT to continue due to its attractive design and operational benefits, it said. Austin has received several proposals to tailor the design for different geographies, suggesting it will become a mainstay in the company’s global product portfolio, complementing Austin’s existing four truck tray types.

Austin has previously announced manufacturing capacity expansions to deal with an anticipated surge in demand, which has now occurred. The expansions, now largely complete, were in Indonesia, Chile and in Western Australia, where a specialised bucket facility for Austin and Mainetec buckets has been commissioned.

Austin CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton, said: “The increased orders reflect an increased win rate in contracts across the business aided by the release of improved product designs such as the HPT, which is receiving significant market interest because of its attractive operational efficiencies.

“We had confidence to commit capital to capacity expansions at some of our major manufacturing sites, namely Indonesia, Chile and Australia. We have also invested in upgraded equipment in the workshops to enable efficiency and quality improvements across our product lines.

“Pleasingly, the capacity expansions have aligned with increased orders ensuring customer delivery timeframes can be maintained. The continuing and increasing strength in the order pipeline suggests that high utilisation levels in all jurisdictions will continue.

“We believe that our commitment to product design and development, our focus on cost control and developing capacity to meet our mining customer needs is driving this improvement in workload.”

Duratray Suspended Dump Bodies on their way to Kibali gold mine

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , ,

A new fleet of Duratray Suspended Dump Bodies (SDB) for Caterpillar 777-05 mining trucks has been completed and shipped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for use at the Kibali gold mine in the country.

Following manufacture in Turkey, the steel frames will be transported on sea to Kenya, then 1,800 km overland through Uganda until reaching their final destination at the Kibali mine.

Kibali is owned by Kibali Goldmines SA which is a joint venture company effectively owned 45% by each of Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti, and 10% by Société Miniére de Kilo-Moto. The mine is operated by Barrick.

Duratray International Project Manager, Csaba Nagy, said the Kibali contract represented the first post-COVID collaboration with the company’s fabriactor in Turkey, which had resulted in great success, despite current challenges such as labour shortages and high demand for steel. Simultaneously, the rubber wearmat kits, fixings, special tools and spare parts were shipped from Duratray’s principal manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Victoria.

The four Caterpillar 777-05 dump bodies will be transported in preassembled parts. Steel frame assembly then rubber component installation will take place at Kibali mine by a Duratray International Field Service crew from South Africa.

Duratray trialling SmartTray 4.0 tech at Chile and Australia mines

IoT, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, , , , , ,

With the purpose of not only diversifying its line of products but also walking towards technological advancements that transform the way mining operations work, Duratray International is trialling its latest product, the Smart Tray 4.0, across Chile and Australia.

The main goal of all Duratray’s products has been to maximise customers’ mining performance through high technological solutions. The design of the company’s staple product, the Suspended Dump Body (SDB), offers just that by reducing carry back, increasing payload and reducing maintenance cost, the company says. However, Duratray is committed to take the truck and tray’s performance even further.

Duratray says it has developed the first Smart Tray on the market, the Smart Tray 4.0, which allows customers to make decisions in real-time via data monitoring and alerts, as well as plan maintenance based on analysis of historical data and advanced and automated analytics that can predict failures.

“We achieved this by using modern technologies such as digital sensors, cloud storage, wireless connectivity and our own platform and infrastructure that glues all the modules of the system together,” Pablo Rossi, Project Leader of the Smart Tray 4.0, says.

The Smart Tray 4.0 technologies are independent of the truck manufacturer and, as such, can be deployed on hybrid fleets, allowing the customer to access their whole fleet from a single system for a fraction of the cost, according to Duratray.

The system that supports the Smart Tray 4.0. is modular and customisable so it can be designed to support any type of mine or quarry in the world, and has the capability to integrate existing sensors on the trucks.

“The interoperability and universality of the system allows the comparison of performance across different trucks, different materials being transported, different loaders, different climates, etc, enabling us to identify and share best practices for the mining and construction industries,” Rossi added.

Currently, the Smart Tray technology is operational at mine sites in the north of Chile and Western Australia, the company concluded.

(photo courtesy of De Beers Group)

Widespread demand for truck trays and buckets boost Austin’s order book

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining finance, , , , , , ,

Austin Engineering Limited says it has received A$82 million ($61 million) of new orders across its business in the three months until end-February 2022, as orders for its specialist truck trays and buckets continue to come in.

This boost represents a 100% increase in its order book level compared with the same period of its last financial year.

Austin says it is now confident it has received sufficient orders to cover its 2022 financial year revenue guidance. In addition, Austin has also received a very encouraging level of orders for its 2023 financial year pipeline. Overall, enquiry levels and contract win rates remain strong in all home markets, it noted.

The new contract wins have resulted in a significant order book lift from December 2021, when Austin reported an increase in orders of 35% year-on-year.

The order book improvement is across all of Austin’s home markets but dominated by the US, Chile and Indonesia.

Austin explained: “The truck tray business has remained strong but is now widespread across more jurisdictions and has been supported by a much stronger level sales of buckets and other equipment. Austin’s new JEC High performance bucket range has attracted considerable attention and, with four months to go in the current financial year, the company has already achieved a record level of sales of mine buckets compared to recent years.”

Austin has previously announced a series of measures aimed at improving its competitiveness by sharpening its focus on the needs of its customers, both in Australia and overseas. As an example, this approach has led to an update to its core Ultima truck trays to meet increased demands around safety and weight carrying capacity.

The design updates have been coupled with cost efficiencies from the advanced manufacturing approach and the hub-and-spoke build strategy, increasing Austin’s product quality and cost competitiveness in the market, it said. This action has already delivered a material level of new order wins, strengthening the current financial year order book, and driving momentum into the next financial year.

Austin is now rolling out the initial phase of its advanced manufacturing plan, following an intensive design phase, which aims to increase production efficiency, safety and quality, thereby reducing costs and increasing productivity. The company is now initially rolling out the new production system in Batam, Indonesia, because that facility is running at an elevated level of throughput in a trend that is expected to continue.

The company flagged in its first half 2022 financial year results that it was entering a challenging period in Western Australia, which is currently under Level 2 Government restrictions due to rising COVID-19 cases in the state. Potential risks, which to a limited extent are now being experienced, include loss of productivity due to staff shortages and shipping delays, which could impact scheduling and deliveries for Austin and its suppliers. The current level of restrictions is not anticipated to remain in place for long, with Western Australia’s COVID-19 caseload peak expected in the next few weeks. Contingency planning continues to reduce risks where possible.

Bravus to employ SMW Group Ultrahaul truck trays on Carmichael Cat 796 AC fleet

Coal technology, Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bravus Mining & Resources has awarded contracts worth more than A$3 million ($2.2 million) to Rockhampton-based SMW Group for a series of new Ultrahaul mine truck trays and a bore field maintenance program.

Bravus Mining & Resources CEO, David Boshoff, said Bravus was keen to capitalise on SMW Group’s 20 years of experience servicing central Queensland’s coal fields.

“There’s an extensive mining services knowledge base in our region, and it has always been our intention to use this and work with businesses based in central Queensland wherever possible,” Boshoff said.

“The Ultrahaul tray is a class-leading product for mine haul trucks that SMW Group has developed specifically for the central Queensland coal industry. The trays are tailored for our fleet of Cat 796 AC haul trucks and will help to maximise production and improve operational efficiency.

“We have been impressed by SMW Group’s willingness to work with us to get the product right for our operations and look forward to seeing the results of this relationship over time.”

SMW Group Chief Operating Officer, Frank Humphreys, said that the contract was a great result for the company and central Queensland manufacturing.

“Securing a contract to supply Ultrahaul trays to the Carmichael Project is a great outcome for SMW Group and is a vote of confidence for central Queensland’s mining services industry,” Humphreys said.

“We are excited to be involved with a high-profile operation like the Carmichael Project.”

Boshoff said the contract would have direct benefits for Mackay and Rockhampton, bolstering the local economies against the impacts of COVID restrictions.

“Having this level of manufacturing capacity in our region is a huge boost, because we can continue to grow our fleet and ramp up operations with minimal impact from COVID induced restrictions and border closures,” he said.

“We are proud to have made good on our promises to Queensland, and especially regional Queensland. We have created more than 2,600 jobs and signed more than $2.2 billion in contracts.

“More than 88% of our contracts are being delivered in Queensland. This work has been spread across all corners of the state to give as many regions as possible the opportunity to benefit from our project, while also enabling us to tap into the highly-skilled construction and resources industry workforce that Queensland possesses.

“We are ramping up our mining fleet and construction on the Coal Handling and Processing Plant is well underway. We are excited to be so close to delivering on our promise to ship first coal this year.”

Centamin working with VR Steel, Real Mining and Aresco on truck tray rollout at Sukari

Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in Egypt is in the process of upgrading its fleet of Caterpillar 785C haul trucks with “lightweight truck trays” designed by VR Steel and fabricated by Egypt-based Aresco.

In 2020, the miner trialled the use of these high production trays, which demonstrated a 10% gain in truck productivity through larger payload and faster cycle time. This led to a decision for a broader roll-out in 2021 across the haul fleet, Centamin said in its 2020 sustainability report.

The introduction of these trays, designed so the floor can be replaced for extended overall service life, are part of the company’s plans to improve cycle loading times and truck/loader matching at the gold operation. They also bring sustainability benefits to the operation given they reduce the truck body weight, increase the payload and improve fuel and tyre efficiency.

Centamin, in the 2020 sustainability report, confirmed it had placed an order for the local fabrication of 44 high production trays to fit the haul fleet in accordance with OEM specifications.

Schlam adds SSAB Hardox wear plate to Hercules dump truck bodies

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , ,

Schlam has teamed up with global steel giant SSAB to offer its Hercules dump truck bodies with Hardox® wear plate. The move follows Schlam being accepted into the Hardox In My Body program.

Glenn Brearey, General Manager of Schlam Payload Solutions, said the company is choosing to use Hardox steel due to its wear resistance, hardness, strength and overall performance, which surpasses the metal found in competitors dump bodies.

“Hardox has used the latest technology to create the world’s leading abrasion-resistant steel, giving our clients extended service life and high productivity in the most challenging mining environments,” Brearey said. “The Hercules is the dump body of choice for many Tier 1 miners around the globe due its lightweight and, therefore, greater payload potential. By using Hardox wear plate in the Hercules HX we’re adding another dimension to our already world-class offering.”

The Hercules HX can withstand heavy impacts without permanent deformation or cracking, ensuring more service life from the truck body investment, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership, the company said.

Every Hercules HX made by Schlam will have a ‘Hardox In My Body’ decal on it to verify it’s been manufactured using Hardox wear plate and not an inferior imitation, Schlam says.

SSAB Marketing Manager – South East Asia & Pacific – Kirs Chua said: “Each application with the sign attached has passed our strict quality control and is approved as a premium product by the SSAB board. Specialists within wear and structural technology carefully analyse each application regarding welding quality, manufacturing process and design.

“Each sign has a unique ID that is traceable and can secure the origin and material.”

Every Hercules HX is custom engineered and built from the ground up based on a mine’s unique operational requirements and is designed to deliver the same outcomes across all commodities, including coal, gold, copper and iron ore, Schlam says