Downer partners with MineWare with the huge purchase of 23 Argus systems

Record-breaking sale signals the start of a new productive partnership for MineWare and Downer

MineWare is well underway with the installation of 23 of their Argus Hydraulic monitoring systems for Downer – making this the largest single order in MineWare’s history. MineWare Vice President – Marketing & Sales Roy Pater said the adoption of Argus would deliver significant productivity and efficiency gains for Downer as they leverage the benefits of digitisation for their customers. “As one of Australia’s leading mining contractors, Downer has placed a major focus on extending their leadership as a contract miner through the full adoption of technology,” he said.

MineWare, part of the Komatsu since 2017, is a global provider of advanced monitoring technology for ground engaging equipment with an independent monitoring system aiming to improve the performance and productivity of surface mining operations around the world.

“Our technology will assist Downer to improve productivity and mine compliance across eight Australian sites in coal, gold, magnetite and iron ore.”

Argus is an advanced monitoring system for electric and hydraulic loaders. The system is designed to manage payload, mine compliance, machine health and situational awareness.

Pater said Argus delivers an increase in the productivity of between 3 to 16 per cent significantly lowering the cost per ton of material moved. “Mining companies like Downer are looking for innovative ways to improve productivity for their customers by leveraging what digitisation has to offer. Our customers that have done this achieve a real competitive advantage.”

Downer Technology Support Specialist, Nicholas Duggan said the company selected MineWare because of its deep expertise in both technology and mining, its commitment to exceptional customer support and its flexibility and willingness to integrate with other operational technology platforms. “A key priority for Downer is to have our hydraulic fleet optimising its payload and digging to plan and, more importantly, to have this information visible throughout our organisation, as well as at our mine sites,” he said.
“The MineWare Argus system will help us improve how we manage this data, making it more useful for our teams. Our on-site and off-site teams can keep track of what’s happening in real-time, allowing sustainable performance at a whole-of-site level.

“We also know MineWare provides us with  dedicated mining engineers to help us continually improve productivity over time and field support teams on the ground to provide rapid response to technical issues.”

MineWare’s holistic approach supports productivity improvement across the entire value chain, integrating operating systems and sharing knowledge between departments to break down the silos.

Pater said MineWare is constantly working on closing the feedback loop between the upstream and downstream mining processes and making this real-time.
“By doing this, our customers will see the real benefits of system integration and collaboration between the various technology vendors, mining contractors and the mine’s departments,” he said.

“All of this is key to attaining the next level of productivity gains that mining is looking for. From benchmarking operator performance to optimising machine health, it’s about measuring what’s happening on board and in the pit, and applying those insights to deliver continuous improvement.

“We are looking forward to working closely with Downer, assisting them to deliver more value-added services to their customers and partnering with them to further improve our systems and services offerings.”