After much deliberation over more than 100 individual award nominations, we have arrived at the five finalists in each of the six InvestMETS.com Global Mining Technology Awards. We have an international team of judges – a mix of miners, market analysts and expert advisors – currently voting on the winners.
As a number of industry leaders have said this year, the vast mining and metals industry has many of the technologies it needs to transform modern mineral exploration, project development, operations and infrastructure.
Capacity within the industry, and the broader supply ecosystem, may be a limiting factor when it comes to accelerating new mine development to meet the needs of the global energy transition even as the mining industry becomes more energy efficient and far less wasteful. But as many technology company leaders have said, using tech to significantly increase returns from brownfield sites, while positively impacting safety and environmental outcomes, is a no-brainer.
That has always been a challenge for miners – retrofitting technology and making the cultural adjustments necessary to make significant shifts in planning and processes work. But it’s going to become critical in the next decade that the industry gets better at this.
Best mining technology company
Our premier award, for the world’s best mining technology company, is sponsored by IMARC, arguably the world’s leading mining technology conference and exhibition. The past two events in Sydney have showcased many of our leaders. We’re very proud to forge this association.
Finalists for 2023 are:
Hexagon (Sweden). An aggressive acquirer of mining-tech businesses around the globe since its 2014 purchase of US-based Mintec, Hexagon has more than doubled the size of its mining software, sensor, control and automation business since 2019. The mining tech arm’s employee headcount has meanwhile gone from 767 at the end of 2019 to 1181 in late 2023.
Datamine (Constellation Software) (Canada/Australia). Rivalling Epiroc for its volume and rate of recent mining-tech acquisitions, but over a slightly longer period, Datamine has quadrupled its employee headcount since 2019 (800 full-time at the end of 2023) and its estimated revenues. Official 2022-2023 revenue growth was 18%; three-year CAGR 27%. A supplier of traditional mine planning software that has added sensor, fleet management and other capabilities.
Epiroc (Sweden). The world’s most prolific acquirer (c25 transactions) of mining technology businesses since its rebirth (formerly Atlas Copco Mining/Construction) as Epiroc in 2018. The deals, plus sales of its legacy/new automation, control and BEV technologies, have seen Epiroc’s digital/automation sales climb spectacularly since 2019. The Stockholm-listed company’s market value (cUS$22.9 billion) was up about 5% over 12 months at the time of writing.
Orica (Australia). ASX-listed Orica acquired GroundProbe in 2017 and Axis Mining Technology in 2022 to create a material mining digital/technology business with 2023 revenues of US$140 million, up from $102 million in 2022. The mining-tech business, which also includes organically built blast initiation and control systems, has seen its employee headcount grow from an estimated 200 in 2019 to 720 at the end of 2023.
Imdex (Australia). Tech rental and software revenue was up from US$145 million in FY22 to US$163 in FY23, with FY23 NPAT at US$23m. The company has seen a ive-year tech/software sales CAGR of 19.9%. The total company headcount was up from 622 at the end of 2022 to 851 12 months later with the 2023, US$242 million acquisition of Norway’s Devico. Imdex operates in all key mining regions including Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Americas with sales in plus-100 countries. The Devico acquisition enhanced its sales footprint and added world-leading directional drilling technology. ASX-listed Imdex’s market value (cUS$670 million) was down c13% over one year at the time of writing.
Best start-up
Datarock (Australia). Est 2019 with 10 people, Datarock now has 50 employees. It’s more than doubled sales, on average, since it started and FY23 saw an even bigger kick. Datarock attracted investment from Imdex for its web-based analytical platform that uses AI to transform data, including drill core photos, from mining and exploration companies into actionable insights that help them optimise operations and cut waste.
Ideon (Canada). Est in 2013 but effectively re-established in 2019 with four people. It now has 55. Deloitte Fast 50 recognition in 2023 signified a c500% revenue increase over three years. The US$16 million series A equity funding backed by Playground Global in September 2022 positioned the company to triple headcount in 2023 and invest in expansion of its muon tomography-based tech offering.
Fleet Space Technologies (Australia). Est 2015 with two people; now has c100 employees. A$50 million (US$33 million) H1 2023 equity funding said to have put Fleet Space’s valuation around A$350m (US$230m). CEO and co-founder Flavia Tata Nardini said the company had booked A$28m (US$18m) of contracted revenues in 12 months on the back of successful commercialisation of its ExoSphere nanosatellite and ground-sensing technologies used in more than 100 mineral exploration surveys by companies such as Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold Corporation, Core Lithium and Gold Fields.
Coreplan (Australia). Est 2020 with five people; now has 28 employees. Raised A$4 million (US$2.6 million) of VC finance from Sydney-based EVP in 2023. Customer base of c80 companies in Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe for drilling software-as-a-service platform said to include BHP, Fortescue, Perenti and AngloGold Ashanti.
Pitcrew AI (Australia). Est 2020 with three people; now has 16 employees. Australia, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico are the main markets to date for Pitcrew’s AI and thermal imaging technology for mining truck tyre monitoring and roadtrain brake/tyre/hub inspection. Technology sales CAGR 2022-2023 223%; three-year sales CAGR c255%.
Best scale-up
MaxMine (Australia). Est 2015 as Resolution Systems with two people. Now has 58 employees. 51% technology sales CAGR 2022-2023; 22.7% tech sales CAGR past five years. Main markets include Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Mauritania and USA. Won multiple awards in Australia in the past three years for its openpit mine operations optimisation software/platform, which has delivered significant efficiency improvements and waste/emission reductions.
Intellisense (England). Est 2013 with four people. Now has 110 employees (tripled in past three years). Two-year tech sales CAGR 102%. “We see a similar trajectory with a cumulative 50% annual growth rate for the business,” CEO Sam Bose said in mid-2023. “The focus is now on getting us to EBIT by 2025.” The company’s mine operations optimisation digital platform uses “scientific AI” to drive superior outcomes. “Scientific AI is a breakthrough development in AI technology pioneered by IntelliSense.io that fuses together mechanistic [first principle or physics] models with machine learning techniques to uniquely provide real-time predictive intelligence.”
Digital Terrain (Australia). Est 2019 (spun out of mining contractor, Pybar) with three people. Now has 25 employees. Core (launch) product is Simbio operations tracking/reporting digital platform. 100% sales CAGR 2022-2023; 100% per year average CAGR since start-up. Company says more than A$15 million has been sunk into its flagship product to date: “It is widely accepted our Simbio solution was the first in the world to have large-scale app deployment into the mining industry … [Simbio] saved our cornerstone customer over $1.5 million per year”.
Eacon Mining Technology (China). Est 2018 with six people. Now has 262 employees. 462% sales CAGR 2022-2023; 552% sales CAGR since establishment. Eacon’s autonomous haulage system (AHS) has been commercially deployed in four openpit coal mines and one large quarry in China. The company is targeting Australia and the Middle East for international expansion in 2024, but is also aiming to add 1000 AHS/hybrid-energy mine trucks in China in 2024. It reported a US$55.22 million series C equity financing round in the second half of 2023, taking funds raised during the year to cUS$62 million.
K2fly (Australia). Est 2015 with four people; the company now has 98 employees. The company, which lists many of the world’s tier one and two miners among users of its resource and ESG governance software, increased FY23 revenue 28% year-on-year to A$12.8 million and cut net cash outflow for the year to $0.6m compared with $0.8m in FY22. It has achieved 48% compound annual growth in its recurring revenues ($7.5m at the end of FY23) over the past three years and 38% CAGR in its total contract value ($17.7m at the end of June).
Best new mining technology/innovation
First Mode (UK/US). Hybrid EV (HEV) retrofit product solution said to “immediately reduce mining’s use of diesel by up to 30%” and provide a platform for delivery of First Mode’s battery EV (BEV) or hydrogen fuel cell EV (FCEV) retrofits when commercially available. This gives customers an option to go to a BEV or FCEV without discarding completed retrofit work.
ThingWave (Sweden). 5G-enabled underground-mine convergence sensor said to “effectively detect the convergence of tunnels and the tilt of walls and other load-bearing structures” and provide rapid deformation reporting. Wireless sensor easy to install and move. Data can be visualised in ThingWave Cloud or ThingWave RealMine3D.
Drillco Tools (Chile). Drillco’s SafeTruck, launched in Chile with major customer (Codelco) 2023, minimises manual drill rig rod handling. Operator exposure is said to be reduced by 70%; productivity is improved by up to 60% (four-hour procedure now said to be performed in under 30 minutes). The SafeTruck is said to be “successfully performing at 4500m above sea level” at Codelco’s Andina copper mine. Product set for international commercialisation in 2024.
Hermes and Soteria (Australia). The start-up formally launched its Overwatch tailings storage facility monitoring product in 2023. The platform combines patent-pending subsurface probe technology with an internet of things (IoT) network to directly measure change and monitor TSF health. H&S says Overwatch enables TSFs to be proactively monitored to determine failure risk and mitigate or avoid effects of catastrophic failure.
Portable PPB (Australia) is exclusively licensed by the CSIRO to commercialise its detectORE assaying process, which could address part of a market currently dominated by portable XRF analysers (estimated more than 10,000 instruments in use worldwide in mineral exploration/mining). By November 2023, Portable PPB said it had sold units to 35 sites in 18 countries on four continents. Applications have ranged from grade control to greenfield gold discovery. The company said sales for the first five months of FY24 were double its total FY23 sales.
Best mining-tech financing
Hypex Bio Explosives Technology (Sweden). Circa-US$10 million equity investment by South African-based Omnia Group/BME for about 10% of Hypex. Hypex a 2020 start-up with commercially validated (Boliden) non-nitrate explosive emulsion, adding “green” product optionality to BME’s portfolio and opening the door for Hypex to a semi-global production and distribution network.
Tribe Technology (UK). Debuted on London Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in September 2023 after IPO/£4.6 million equity raise at 10p. Public market entry value c£22.2 million (US$27.8 million). Market value £21.36m mid-December 2023. Tribe is looking to disrupt the mineral exploration (reverse circulation) drill market with a fully-autonomous rig/rod-handling/sampling platform. In its 2023 prospectus the company said it had secured more than £10.5 million of orders for its first-generation RC drill rig, the TTDS GC 700, since (Major Drilling International-owned) McKay Drilling bought the first unit in 2021. “Existing customers have expressed interest in purchasing a further 40 drill rigs, subject to agreeing terms,” Tribe said.
Chrysos Corporation (Australia). A$75 million (US$50 million) public equity raise at A$6.60 per share (7.7% discount to previous trading price). Shares above $8 a month later. Funds needed to accelerate production of mineral analysis units to meet strong demand.
KoBold Metals (USA). US$195 million private equity raise drew support from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. The company has raised $400 million in total to take AI-backed mineral discovery data analysis to predominantly brownfield mine/resource targets to try to speed reserve definition and improve recovery efficiency. The latest equity raise was said to have come at a US$1.15 billion valuation.
Fleet Space Technologies (Australia). A$50 million (US$33 million) 2023 private equity raise (series C) drew more support from Blackbird Ventures, Grok Ventures and other significant backers. It was said to have more than doubled the company’s valuation (plus-A$350 million).
Best mining-tech M&A transaction
Imdex’s strategic US$242 million 2023 acquisition of Norway’s Devico brought together complementary sales networks, R&D, technologies and cultures. The acquisition price implied a CY22 EV/EBITDA multiple of c11.2x and EV/EBITA multiple of about 12.8x, before synergies. Imdex said revenue synergies were expected to deliver value to its shareholders through cross-selling and accelerated R&D development. Estimated cost efficiencies of about A$2m per annum, equal to c7% of Devico’s CY22 EBITDA), would arise from office consolidation, supply chains, sourcing, manufacturing, and the ability to leverage Imdex’s operating systems across the Devico network.
Hexagon’s acquisition of Canada’s Hard-Line added a mine remote control systems leader and specialist, and more than 100 Hard-Line employees in Canada, Chile and the US, to the former’s expanding mining technology product and service base.
Veracio, established within Boart Longyear early in 2023, expanded its profile in the global geoscience data technology market with its US$29.3 million acquisition of Sweden’s Minalyze, its first M&A transaction. Veracio paid $15 million cash for Minalyze and offered the balance in promissory notes convertible into “shares in Veracio”.
ASX-listed bulk commodity transport company Aurizon Holdings paid A$30 million (US$20 million) to increase its stake in UK-based Ox Mountain, a tech company applying “F1 and aerospace processes to maintenance” in mining and other heavy industries, to 69%. It paid $22.4 million in 2020 for an initial 41.67% of Ox Mountain.
MineHub Technologies paid US$2.5 million in its scrip for Waybridge Technologies, expanding its mining commodity trading and supply-chain transaction platform user base to more than 100 companies.
