Contract mining major Thiess has made strategic investments in Australian mining technology firms, LAAMP and Mechatronix, leaders in their respective niches.
Thiess CEO and group executive chair Michael Wright said the investments signalled an intent to expand the company’s services offering “outside of the traditional mining operations”.
“The investments in LAAMP and Mechatronix will provide wider benefits for our valued clients and people, while helping us reach our goals in sustainability and innovation,” Wright said.
“LAAMP aims to ensure our people have the right competency and capability, with the latest thinking in training and assessments, while Mechatronix has a global focus on fleet sustainability and asset longevity.”
Thiess has used the LAAMP (Learning And Assessment Management Portal) digital training platform and Mechatronix carbon-fibre structural products for several years. The latter could “dramatically extend the life of trucks and, ultimately, boost payload capacity”.
“If we can take 10 tonnes of weight out of an asset – that’s an extra 10 tonnes a truck on a mine site can carry on each load,” said Queensland-based Mechatronix founder and managing director of 24 years, Andrew Middlin.
“Overall, that increases productivity, while providing a smarter and more sustainable solution for existing assets.
“It’s a genuine win-win situation where we have a high-profile partner to help us showcase to the industry what we can do, while for Thiess, our technology allows them to be a differentiator in their sector and make strong inroads into their sustainability commitments.”
Thiess says it will install Mechatronix-designed and built vehicle kits to its own assets and those of clients at its new Batam Island rebuild centre in Indonesia.
“We have one of the largest fleets globally in the mining sector, with about 1200 off-highway mining trucks, so it makes sense for us to invest in this capability,” Wright said.
“Our industry is always looking to extend the life of existing assets and transition to electric vehicles. This is a natural partnership.”
Six-year-old LAAMP, an Adelaide-based company recognised as South Australia’s Innovator of Year in 2023, started working with Thiess in 2019 when the contractor was looking at improving its global training, assessment and staff records.
“At that time, we had staff spread across Africa, the Americas, Indonesia, Mongolia, India and Australia and the content was being delivered in different ways, without the consistency we would have liked,” Wright said.
“We wanted to change not only how the content was delivered – to make it interactive, multilingual and relevant – but also how and where it was delivered.”
Acquisition by Thiess of “significant stakes” in both businesses would aid their growth prospects.
