THE rising demand for autonomous equipment in the mining sector is driving the development of a new service sector in Western Australia, from management consulting through to equipment development and manufacturing.
Engineering firm Argon has developed a robotics specialisation it claims is a leader in the field, having worked on platform level technology for the past five years.
Argon has a broad range of products that can be adapted across different industries but it is also focused on developing automated metallurgical or minerals processing plant operations.
It currently has trial sites operating in WA.
At the other end of the spectrum is the advisory sector, where the miners turn to for expertise on developing autonomous mining or putting in a remote operations centre.
Perth-based IT consultancy Velrada has been involved in the operational and technical design and commissioning of integrated operational centres in WA and interstate, including remote operations.
And, as reported last week in WA Business News, Haultrax is a recently launched company formed by several former executives from multi-national mining companies with experience in this field.
Management consulting firm Oyster Consulting has a shareholding in this new venture. The three key players are Alister MacPherson, Diederik Lugtigheid and Shyamal Sharma who plan to offer services in mining efficiency, asset analytics and autonomous technology.