AUSTRALIAN METS
At home , not abroad
This mining powerhouse is striving to have a METS sector to match its extraction ambitions ; one built on the principles of interoperability , scalability and flexibility . Dan Gleeson reports on how these growth prospects are being fostered , while looking at some of Australia ’ s homegrown talent
Having two of the biggest mining equipment , technology and services ( METS ) buyers in the world based in your country does not always translate directly into the local METS ecosystem , according to METS Ignited Chief Executive , Adrian Beer .
“ For 40 years in Australia , we have gained significant benefited from the global mining giants ’ investment , relative to our national economy , into their operations within our backyard ,” Beer said . “ As a country we have been extremely fortunate to build a unique set of skills and capability from their investment in technology and innovation over this timeframe , predominantly partnering with research organisations and global technology vendors . However in many ways this has by-passed our local vendor community .
“ This means our METS growth support ecosystem , when you put it in economic terms , is not where it could be for an economy like ours . The support programs have really been geared towards the producers , and not the technology vendors who have the skills and capability to operate in this space .”
This has been changing since the last resources boom ended , with Beer , in the close to two years he has been with METS Ignited , helping orchestrate the move as the two ‘ big Australians ’, BHP and Rio Tinto , have become much more receptive to engaging with the domestic METS sector .
“ For almost 20 years to around 2014 , the big producers often invested in major pieces of technology , retaining that intellectual property and know-how ,” Beer said . “ In the past 5 years that has changed , with both companies now spending a lot more in getting the ‘ stranded innovation ’ in their supply chains back out into the METS marketplace .” There are a few reasons for such a sea change . The first is the challenge of speed in technology development , which can suffer as a consequence of maintaining innovation captive within a mining company .
“ If you take one obvious example , the autonomous trucks at Yandicoogina that tourists take photos of … they are still on the early versions of the applications , that are specific to their operating needs and it is built on a platform that was developed more than 20 years ago ,” Beer said . “ These technologies have not been developed within a competitive marketplace , where normally vendors would compete to improve it , enhance it , driving down the operating cost and productivity up .
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“ These companies and their peers are now seeking the best people to sustain the development of their technology , which are more often the technology vendors themselves .”
The second related problem is developing and maintaining the skills to operate and enhance these legacy technology platforms . Service technicians are not coming out of university embedded with the skills to tackle these systems , unless they have gone through specific mining courses funded by the industry – of which there are few .
“ The big miners are looking for a marketplace of vendors they can rely upon to support their operations , which will develop a talent pool to hire from ,” Beer said . “ That same talent pool must have a modern technology capability that can bring new ideas back into mining operations to make them better .”
The third reason for change is arguably the biggest .
“ The next generation of mines are leaning more towards critical minerals – deposits that come in much smaller concentrations , have a much shorter mine life , are harder to reach , harder to treat , etc than the iron ore and coal mines of the past . As a result , miners need to be able to scale up and scale down really quickly .
“ This comes with a whole different approach to technology . It ’ s the equivalent of going from an A380 to a Learjet … one extreme to the other .” This has seen METS Ignited become the “ impartial , honest broker ” helping the mining companies engage more effectively with the vendor community , Beer said .
12 International Mining | MAY 2021