Komatsu Ltd has agreed to acquire Mine Site Technologies Ltd (MST), a provider of operational optimization platforms for underground mining that leverage communication devices and position tracking systems.
Komatsu is planning to close the acquisition in July, on the condition that all necessary procedures for closing are completed.
According to Komatsu, the impact on its consolidated business results is estimated to be minimal.
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As global demand for essential resources requires Komatsu’s customers to go underground for mineral deposits, the company is rapidly developing new technologies, equipment and solutions to support the industry’s future needs.
According to Komatsu, it understands the importance of empowering its customers growing use of digitalization and automation to improve safety and productivity.
As a result, Komatsu plans to work with MST Global to help customers build digital ecosystems with real-time insights and alerts, voice and communication technologies, software solutions, robust network infrastructure and wireless and geospatial technologies.
Together, the companies plan to work toward increasing the availability of high-speed, low latency digital communication, which is necessary to provide mission-critical communication, integrate IoT sensors, increase the volume of information communicated and enable real-time tracking, monitoring and automation of mine operations.
The Sydney-based MST Global specializes in developing and delivering ruggedized, fit for purpose solutions and services and partnering with mining and tunneling customers on their digital strategy to unearth safety and productivity improvements.
MST Global solutions are engineered to enable communication between operators and mining equipment, position tracking and leveraging optical fiber broadband communication systems, which create a real-time geospatial digital twin of underground operations—an important and fundamental building block for digitalization.
With a global customer base, MST Global’s platform aims to visualize and monitor the underground mining environment and enable control from a remote operations center, thus optimizing mine operations to increase safety and productivity whilst safeguarding the environment.
By adding MST Global’s experience and expertise in the introduction of communication devices and optimization platforms, Komatsu aims to enhance the speed at which it offers advanced technology solutions, including the automation and teleoperation of mining equipment underground.
Per the company’s ongoing mid-term management plan, “DANTOTSU Value – Together, to ‘The Next’ for sustainable growth,” Komatsu is working to expand offerings for underground hard rock mining, creating new value for customers with the development of new equipment, processes and technologies that will help operations step forward to the next stage for the workplace of the future and provide a more sustainable environment for the next generation.
