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New Report Captures Equipment Manufacturers’ Contributions to Economy

The equipment manufacturing industry supported almost 1.3 million jobs in the United States in 2016, according to a new report released Thursday by AEM.

The report, which was produced by the leading economic research firm IHS Markit, found that equipment manufacturers added $159 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States last year.

The report came as major segments of the equipment manufacturing industry met at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, and as national elected leaders place a renewed emphasis on manufacturing jobs and infrastructure investment.

The research project offers the best snapshot of the equipment manufacturing industry’s reach in several years.

The report found that equipment manufacturers in the United States supported over $416 billion in sales activity in 2016, generated about $87 billion in labor income (amounting to about $78,000 in wages per equipment manufacturing industry job), and contributed over $25 billion in local, state and federal taxes.

Texas leads the country in equipment manufacturing employment and output, the report found, followed by Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa.

The research also examined the equipment manufacturing industry’s impact in Canada. Equipment manufacturers in Canada supported some 149,000 jobs last year, and generated some $15 billion (USD) for the Canadian economy in 2015.

“AEM is proud to represent the men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry across our country. This new report helps to put into context the many great contributions of our industry,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “Our industry is a core part of America’s manufacturing economy, and we are eager to continue to grow, and, hopefully with a significant investment in our infrastructure, help put millions of Americans to work.”

IHS Markit additionally examined the equipment manufacturing industry’s impact over the construction, agriculture and energy (including oil and gas and mineral exploration) equipment segments. IHS Markit found that construction equipment manufacturers make up about 38 percent of the industry and directly support 163,000 jobs; farm equipment manufacturers represent 27 percent of the industry and directly employ about 114,000 people; and energy equipment manufacturers account for about 35 percent of the industry and directly support 148,000 jobs.

The research examines the direct impact of equipment manufacturers on the economy, as well as indirect effects at suppliers, service providers or other ancillary businesses related to the industry. The report also accounts for the induced effects of the industry (i.e., the additional effects on employment and income in communities).

The report adds additional detail about some of the key variables that support each industry segment, and forecasts growth for the industry into 2018 and beyond.

Click here to access the full report.

Posted: 3/15/2017 1:57:35 PM

WA still Australia’s top spot for mining investment

Western Australia remains the most attractive jurisdiction in Australia for mining investment, according to Canadian think-tank, the Fraser Institute.

However, the behemoth mining state dropped from the top spot globally in the organisation’s 2016 annual survey of mining executives to third in 2017 behind Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The survey ranks 104 jurisdictions around the world based on geologic attractiveness and the extent government policies encourage or deter exploration and investment.

Queensland (10^th) is the only other Australian state to feature in the top 10 jurisdictions, improving from 16^th overall in 2016, even though its overall rating score declined slightly.

Behind the top three were Nevada (United States), Finland, Quebec (Canada), Arizona (US), Sweden, Republic of Ireland, and Queensland.

Despite having just two states in the top 10, Australia and Oceania did manage to surpass Canada and the US as the most attractive region in the world for investment when both policy and mineral potential are considered, Fraser Institute added.

“WA was rated to be the most attractive jurisdiction in the region and the third most attractive jurisdiction in the world this year based on its investment attractiveness score,” Fraser Institute reported.

“Two Australian jurisdictions— New South Wales and Queensland — experienced declines in their policy perception index (PPI) scores this year.”

NSW’s PPI score was notably lower, falling from 51^st in 2016 to 66^th this year, as more respondents rated socioeconomic agreements/ community development conditions, labour regulations, and the legal system as discouraging to investment.

It is the fifth consecutive year that NSW suffered a decline in its PPI score.

While Queensland’s PPI score decreased, the lift in the state’s investment attractiveness score was driven by a substantial improvement in miners’ views of Queensland’s geology.

“In fact, this year Queensland is rated as having the fourth most attractive geology in the world,” according to the Fraser Institute.

The Australia and Oceania investment attractiveness index rankings order in 2017 is: WA, Queensland, South Australia (13^th overall), Northern Territory (20^th), Fiji (41^st), Tasmania (56^th), Victoria (57^th), Papua New Guinea (59^th), NSW (62^nd), Philippines (66^th), New Zealand (67^th), Indonesia (78^th) and Malaysia (93^rd).

Sandvik, IBM partner to bring advanced analytics for mining sector

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology has partnered with IBM to develop data driven productivity and predictive maintenance services for the mining and rock excavation industry.

Under the agreement, the two companies will develop advanced analytics solutions to improve maintenance, safety, productivity and operational services of mining and rock excavation equipment.

The rising number of onboard instrumentation and data gathering capabilities in heavy equipment have provided mining operators more opportunities for increased productivity; with the use of digital technologies estimated to create around $100bn in value to resources companies by 2035.

The collaboration will involve the use of remote monitoring, advanced analytics, and cognitive technologies, allowing mining companies to combine equipment data from a range of resources and automatically analyse the patterns to increase performance.

The first state of work will be done on loaders and trucks; connecting up to 15 units and integrating live data from multiple on and off boarding systems to run the analytic algorithms.

The combined information will allow mining companies to make better production plans and maintenance schedules for their equipment.

It is also set to generate greater yields and lower costs per tonne of ore.

Sandvik has identified between 20 and 50 per cent decreases in costs per tonne with their digital technologies, and these new analytic capabilities are set to reduce costs even more.

President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, Lars Engström, said the company’s OptiMine and AutoMine solutions for data collection already provide a suitable platform for IBM analytics solutions.

“This collaboration fits well with our service portfolio, which is based on traditional life-cycle, enhanced technical, and business services, all of which are aligned to improve safety, secure competences for mine operations and increase our customers’ productivity,” he said.

Anders Fredholm, VP Industrial Products Industry, IBM Europe also welcomed the collaboration and said the company looks forward to providing smarter digital services to natural resources companies worldwide.

Rio Tinto slashes more jobs at Queensland aluminium smelter

Rio Tinto is cutting more jobs and production at the Boyne aluminium smelter at Gladstone in Queensland.

According to Reuters, Rio, with its Boyne partners, will reduce output at the operation by 14 per cent due to a sustained increase in power prices. The move will reportedly result in job losses in excess of 100.

The diversified miner announced in January that production at the smelter would be reduced by eight per cent. The previous decision was expected to cost about 50 jobs.

However, with high power prices continuing to affect the operation, the job cuts are expected to more than double what was previously foreshadowed as the smelter lowers its annual aluminium production by about 80,000 tonnes.

Boyne Smelters released a statement in January explaining that the operation was unable to maintain full production due to sustained high power pricing, almost three times higher than the 2016 average.

The smelter sources about 85 per cent of its power from the Gladstone power station.

Boyne general manager Joe Rea said: “This is the second time in three years we’ve had to curtail production on a large scale because of uncompetitive electricity prices. BSL is paying more than 500 times more than what it costs to generate electricity.

“The decision to curtail production is a very difficult one. It takes months, not weeks, to bring the smelter back to a stable full capacity, and that can only happen if and when power prices become competitive.”

Boyne employs around 1000 people and indirectly supports about 6700 jobs nationally, with 3000 of these jobs in the Gladstone region.

Rio owns about 60 per cent of the smelter operations.

Improving operational performance with mill lining design

As operators seek to optimise income from mining, operational excellence and the ability to find new productivity gains are key focus areas.

Tactics to achieve this include a re-evaluation of a mine’s maintenance and procurement approach. The two are entwined because a tendency to exhaust equipment and/or rely on tried, tested and sometimes under-performing components can lead to more frequent downtime.

Whether it’s a planned service or an emergency shutdown, any interruption to operations can have costly consequences.

An example where this approach is being put into practice is in milling technology for mineral processing, where new equipment and processes are being introduced to optimise production efficiency. This includes reducing the number of production lines in action at any one time, so increasing mill sizes to enable the same, if not greater, throughput levels.

One of the key advantages to this approach is that scheduled and unscheduled downtime is reduced. However, the activity levels of each mill must be closely managed to ensure that productivity remains high.

Similarly, components used within the mill must guarantee optimum performance and reliability, so that unexpected maintenance or replacement is minimised.

According to Trelleborg engineered products technical manager Zane Thomas, mill liner design and material selection is important to ensure the optimum flow of minerals and longer lasting performance of the lining.

“Liners play an important role in protecting the interior mill shell from impact and wear, while transferring energy to optimise grinding efficiency. These conflicting requirements mean that the lining must be carefully designed to ensure optimum, long lasting performance and reduced load stress on the mill,” Thomas said.

“A key consideration is the material used to make the lining and lifter bars. For some materials, such as composite steel linings, the wear life can be unpredictable due to the quality of the steel, bonding techniques and the cracking of inserts.

“This can become a safety hazard requiring frequent maintenance and replacement, not to mention the additional load in the mill. The result is a loss in efficiency and throughput, increase in power draw and downtime losses, all affecting the dollar per tonne recovery.”

The benefits of rubber compound versus composite steel linings

Used in most secondary, tertiary and a number of primary milling applications, rubber mill linings are almost half the weight of composite steel liners and come with huge advantages, such as the elimination of cracking or falling of inserts during mineral impact, as well as reduced noise levels during milling.

Rubber mill linings are easily monitored and wear life is predictable. Some components can also be designed with wear indicators incorporated, making it easier to identify when the lining needs to be replaced and therefore, when to schedule appropriate maintenance.

As the pressure to reduce unplanned downtime builds, in order to improve efficiency and mill productivity, the ability to measure liner wear becomes invaluable.

An all-rubber lining has been developed for composite lifter bar solutions. For example, Trelleborg recently developed and supplied a cost-effective, long-lasting rubber lifter bar solution for a ball mill in Australia.

The success with the 1605AM rubber compound and design has given Trelleborg the opportunity to offer its clients an alternative to composite steel lifter bars.

“Composite lifters can not only add to the load in the mill, but are also difficult to handle in confined spaces and take much longer to install, adding to downtime and installation costs,” Thomas said.

“The lifter bars made with new 1605AM rubber compound come with added benefits such as easy handling, quick installation time, reduced power draw and noise pollution. The reduction in overall weight decreases the impact on rotating components.”

Downtime is a significant issue faced by the mining industry, and the mining and material processing industry is always looking for ways to enhance availability of the mills that grind and blend materials, Thomas added.

“Trelleborg’s rubber lifter bars offer increased operational efficiencies, significantly reduced downtime, simple wear monitoring and life predictability. In addition, when compared with steel, a rubber solution also provides superior resistance to the severe impact, high temperature and abrasion caused by the comminution of the ore within the mine’s grinding mill, enhancing the life of the mill,” he said.

Trelleborg offers a wide range of rubber lifter bars and plates for ball mills, rod mills and drum scrubbers. The standard rubber lifter sizes from Trelleborg range from 50mm to 250mm wide and 50mm to 350mm in height.

They come with aluminium and steel tracks, with different face angles to suit the milling or scrubbing application. A wide range of shell plates, grate plates, head plates and filler segments, including the backing rubber to protect the mother plate of the mill are also available.

Conclusion

Accessible measures and practices are available to help operators to get the most out of every mill.

Though considered just one of many components vital to mining operations, the lining of a grinding mill plays a key role in optimum comminution and mineral dressing.

Lines are subjected to severe impact and abrasion from the mineral being ground and the media introduced into the mill to help break down the product.

As such, a high quality and high wearing lining is an important part of keeping a mill online and operations running to plan.

OceanaGold plans to battle Philippines move to suspend mine

Australia’s OceanaGold intends to take legal action if a proposed move in the Philippines to suspend or close a series of mines in the country, including its Didipio operation, for environmental reasons goes ahead.

Philippines’ environment and natural resources secretary Regina Lopez yesterday ordered the suspension of five mines, such as the Didipio gold mine, and the closure of 23 mines, including several nickel operations.

Lopez, who has been a vocal opponent of the impact mining has on the Philippines environment, explained the move was about putting the public’s welfare ahead of mining revenues.

“My issue here is not about mining, my issue here is social justice,” Lopez said.

In an ASX announcement, OceanaGold said it had not yet received any formal suspension order from the Philippines department of environment and natural resources (DENR), and that mining and processing activities were continuing at the Didipio mine.

The company added that there was no legal basis for the proposed suspension, as the mine did not violate any laws, rules or regulations, and was not posing any threat to public, security, health, safety or otherwise.

OceanaGold chief executive officer Mick Wilkes said the decision was unjustified nor had any basis in law.

“We have not received any show cause notice from the DENR nor have we received a suspension order. Should we ultimately receive a suspension order as suggested today (February 2) we have very strong legal grounds to have it overturned,” Wilkes said.

“Our Didipio mine is a partnership with the Government of the Philippines through the Office of the President and has a strong social license to operate. We are a large employer of Filipino nationals, and our operation delivers significant benefits to the local communities.

“As proof of this, Didipio was announced as the joint winner of the presidential mineral industry environmental award in recognition of our exemplary performance in safe and environmentally responsible mining.”

OceanaGold produced 147,150 ounces of gold at Didipio in 2016, it announced on Monday.

While the plan to close or suspend the mines is bad news for companies operating in the Philippines, like OceanaGold, it could be the opposite for nickel miners producing in Australia.

In 2015, the Philippines was the world’s leading nickel producer with 530,000 tonnes. By shutting down its nickel mines it could reduce the country’s output by as much as half.

The share price of Australian nickel miner Western Areas increased by 10.9 per cent on the ASX yesterday following announcement of the proposed move. The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) also jumped to a three-week high of $US10,500 a tonne.

ALIBABA OPENS AUSTRALIAN HEADQUARTERS

y Staff Writer 06 February 2017

Editorial

image: http://pcm.verticals.s3-website-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/articles/images/Alibaba-opens-Australian-headquarters-669208-l.jpg

Alibaba Group has opened its Australian and New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne, Australia.

Speaking at a ceremony with over 350 business, industry and government figures, Alibaba Group Founder and Executive Chairman, Jack Ma, said: “With a local office and expert team, Alibaba Group will help Australian and New Zealand businesses share their world-famous products with billions of customers around the world. Whether a large company with existing links to China or a mum-and-dad run exporter operating out of a garage, Alibaba Group is here to make it easy to do business anywhere.

“Australia will always have a special place in my heart and that’s why I am so pleased to come back to contribute to supporting Australian businesses to create opportunities and jobs in a country that has meant so much for me,” Ma said.

Ma yesterday met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney. During those discussions, Ma and Turnbull shared a common vision of promoting much greater cross-border trade, particularly to benefit SME’s and young business people.

There are over 1300 Australian and 400 New Zealand brands on Tmall and Tmall Global, many of which entered China for the first time through these platforms. The success of Australian products was illustrated through the 2016 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival, with Australia ranked the fourth highest selling country.

The ANZ headquarters will be led by Maggie Zhou, Australian and New Zealand Managing Director, and supported by a strong local team.

Zhou and her team have been operational in Australia for nine months, introducing new brands to Alibaba’s platforms and supporting existing clients with the challenges of operating abroad.

“A physical Alibaba headquarters is a key step in ensuring Australian businesses have the support and information they need to succeed in China and the rest of the world,” Ms Zhou said.

“Longer term, Alibaba Group’s vision for the ANZ region is to build the entire operating infrastructure needed to enable local businesses to expand globally. Alibaba Cloud launched its services and opened its data centre in late 2016 and there are now more than 1,000 bricks-and-mortar stores accepting Alipay across Australia and New Zealand. This is just the start, with further growth planned in the areas of cloud, payments, digital entertainment and logistics,” Zhou said.

Alibaba Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia Post today to strengthen trade opportunities for Australian businesses selling to the millions of consumers across Alibaba’s platform.

The agreement will involve Alibaba Group collaborating with Australia Post to develop the first Australian marketplace within the Lazada eCommerce Network in South-East Asia.

Australia Post storefronts will be established on all Lazada platforms with pilots in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to begin in 2017.

The partnership builds on Alibaba Group and Australia Post’s relationship established in 2014, and will enable Australian businesses, particularly SMEs, to perform more effectively across key platforms, like Tmall Global, Taobao Global and 1688.com, through the sharing of data, increased marketing activities and improved logistics.

Australia Post will also collaborate with Cainiao to improve data integration and develop a co-branded cross-border service (and packaging) for Australian outbound parcels to China.

Smart mining market set to boom

The smart mining market is on track for substantial growth in the coming years, a new report by Transparency Market Research has found.

According to the report, the global smart mining market was valued at $US5.98 billion in 2014 and is projected to reach $US22.59 billion by 2024. This equates to a growth rate of almost 15 per cent from 2016 to 2024.

“The global mining industry has witnessed as significant transformation in the past few decades,” the report outlines.

“The prime reason behind such transformation is the introduction of numerous smart mining technologies for carrying out mining operations.

“These smart mining technologies include several automated mining equipment, sensors, RFID tags, and various types of mine monitoring and analytics software.”

Key players in the global smart mining market include Rockwell Automation, Trimble Navigation, Hexagon, Komatsu, Sandvik, Joy Global and Hitachi.

The report stated that introduction of smart technologies not only enabled efficient connectivity among miners but also allowed optimal production and recovery with minimum wastage.

“They are also much safer and environment-friendly as compared to the traditional mining technology,” the report continued.

“Operational costs associated with smart mining technology are also very less as compared with the traditional technology. However, deployment of smart technologies in a particular mine involves very high capital cost.

“Mining companies across the world also lack skilled labour force to successfully run such smart technologies and they are investing aggressively in training their existing workforce in order to ensure efficient operations.”

The smart mining market involves automated equipment, hardware and software.

SUPPLIER TO DIVERSIFY WITH ARTIC TRUCKS

OPS Equipment, which has built its reputation as a supplier of fixed and mobile crushing, screening and conveying plant and equipment within WA and the NT, is now the western states agent for Terex Trucks.

OPS has become the official distributor of Terex Trucks products in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The company has traditionally been the official dealer for Osborn, Terex Finlay, Terex Washing Systems, Terex Environmental Equipment, Telestack conveyors and Kiverco recycling plant, mostly within WA and NT. It also stocks a comprehensive range of plant spares and associated products at its Jandakot warehouse which are available to its customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Terex Trucks, now a division of Volvo Construction Equipment and headquartered in Motherwell, Scotland, is a manufacturer of off-highway rigid and articulated haul trucks that are used in mining, quarrying and construction applications worldwide. OPS will distribute the manufacturer’s three models of articulated haulers – the TA250, TA300 and TA400, with payloads ranging from 25 to 38 tonnes – and provide an extensive aftermarket care service to customers that purchase the trucks.

Terex Trucks’ Clement Cheong and OPS managing director Shane Czerkasow at the official signing.

“OPS prides itself on providing quality support to its customers in the segments served, which include mining, earthmoving, civil construction and quarries, and these are areas that fit extremely well with Terex Trucks’ client base,” said Clement Cheong, the Asia-Pacific director of sales and marketing for Terex Trucks.

“The company has gained a good reputation in the market for the products and services it delivers, and we are confident that OPS will bring the same enthusiasm to Terex Trucks’ customers.”

Shane Czerkasow, the managing director of OPS, said the company was delighted to be partnering with Terex Trucks in WA, SA and NT. “We believe the two organisations’ values and objectives are aligned, such as the simplicity of product for maximum operational effectiveness, quality customer service and a leading, first class aftermarket back-up offering,” Czerkasow said.

“OPS is committed to providing all our existing and new Terex Trucks customers with a new level of service and support and we look forward to fostering a long partnership with Terex Trucks.”

The articulated trucks are set to become available in the first quarter of 2017.

In the eastern states, Terex Trucks are already available through Terrequipe, based in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Roy Hill partners with IT provider Ajilon

Roy Hill has partnered with IT consulting and services provider Ajilon to boost its business analytics processes.

Built on Microsoft Azure, Ajilon’s Business Analytics platform will allow Roy Hill to gain key insights across its operations by rapidly processing, amplifying and visualising information.

It will further enhance Roy Hill’s operational processes; increasing productivity and driving down costs.

Jeremy Dennis, national analytics aead at Ajilon, said the platform is capably of processing vast amounts of data (big data), streaming analytics (Internet of Things), visual analytics, data science and model management, from a single technology stack.

The platform can ingest large volumes of data in real time, enabling data scientists and engineers to self-serve visualisation tools, develop predictive algorithms, and combine disparate information sources to discover real value.

Using IoT technology, the platform can also stream near real-time sensor data from the mobile assets to allow faster process analysis.