HEAVY ENGINEERING & WEAR PARTS
was first announced to the market in February 2024 with the award of a test tray .
This test tray was approved by a major OEM , acting as an important step before the OEM placed further orders , Austin said back in February . It added : “ Our discussions with the OEM are encouraging , and there is potential for it to place significant multi-year orders , commencing the second half of our 2024 financial year , dependent on a favourable decision by the OEM .”
In this update , Austin said the program was expected to be the first in a series of ongoing orders from the customer in several of Austin ’ s jurisdictions , with manufacturing to occur in Chile and Indonesia .
“ The Chile trays subject to these purchase orders will be manufactured and delivered as part of the ‘ first fit ’ of trays for a global truck OEM ,” it clarified .
Austin will source the required steel through its bulk procurement program , AustBuy , which is now supplying its operations in Chile , in addition to Australia and Indonesia .
Even more recently , Austin ’ s Chile business unit won an order for a full Cat 7495 dipper bucket for a local customer .
The customised dipper bucket , valued at over A $ 2.5 million , will be manufactured at Austin ’ s La Negra manufacturing facility , near Antofagasta , with delivery scheduled for the March quarter of 2025 . Designed by Austin ’ s engineering team , the 86-t dipper will be able to move approximately 100 t of material per pass .
Austin said : “ Dipper buckets are high value products , for both new units and annual rebuilds , particularly for the larger sized dipper buckets Austin builds .”
It is Austin ’ s fourth dipper bucket order following the acquisition of Mainetec in 2022 . Two dipper buckets have already been delivered in Australia , while a high-performance Armadillo electric rope shovel dipper bucket is due for delivery to a US-based copper mine by the end of this year . IM
00 International Mining | JUNE 2024