What is Epiroc’s strategy in the southwest?

The southwestern US is home to some of our largest customers, and is served by three service centers in Temecula, California; Elko, Nevada; and Tucson, Arizona, where we support both the mining and construction businesses in the region. This year has been phenomenal for the industry. A lot has happened in both our underground and surface mining operations, and our customers in those regions have expanded their operations to take advantage of the market conditions. Technology was a key area of investment for them this year. The US has lagged in technology adoption compared with some other mining areas of the world, but we are starting to see substantial increases in adoption rates for our digitization and automation technology.

Can you elaborate on the Elko Exploration Competency Center?

It is an Underground Mining Competency Center serving the exploration business, as well as serving and supporting our underground mining business and strategy in the US. This was a goal we started the year with, and we put a lot of effort into defining what a world-class competency center needs to be. We are starting to see the adoption of new technologies; this competency center will support battery automation and all the advanced technologies that we have in the underground space.

How important is sustainable innovation to Epiroc?

Our new fossil-free underground mine truck presented in December is just one of the examples of how we are helping companies achieve the sustainability goals they have set for themselves. We have developed and acquired products with the latest technology available for the underground and surface to support our customer’s ESG goals and objectives. Battery-powered equipment is a big focus for us and we will deliver our newest battery electric vehicles in the US mining market in early 2023. Despite the US not being a leader in technology adoption, a shift is happening, as we’re able to quantify the productivity gains and cost savings using our customers’ operational data.

What were the main incentives to acquire 3D-P and what synergies have you unlocked since?

The backbone of any autonomous solution is solid connectivity with machines. Poor network coverage and quality are often stumbling blocks preventing successful adoption and growth. Communication has to be good, and it is better if a single entity can determine where the fault is and what changes need to be made. Epiroc and 3D-P work closely together and were a perfect match in that sense, whereas collectively we have the solutions to act as a single provider and create a stable backbone on which to build and scale these solutions. The synergy removes connectivity and network reliability as risks to the success of the projects.

Are you seeing ESG goals driving demand for your services?

ESG is part of every conversation we have with the big companies in the market. Companies realize that we are leaders in this space, and are actively developing solutions for today and the future. There are several opportunities to drive sustainable goals with both existing and new fleets with our products and solutions. For existing fleets, reducing carbon footprint comes from the optimization of the operation and equipment – minimizing fuel burn. Our automation building blocks deliver on this objective. If you can optimize mining operations through digitization and leveraging automation, it is possible to reduce the carbon footprint.

Do you plan any more acquisitions in the future?

Our CEO has made it very clear that we will continue to acquire technologies that complement our existing portfolio to achieve our digitization and automation strategies. We have made and announced eight acquisitions this year, most of them in the area of technology and battery infrastructure. We will continue to take aggressive action both through organic growth and external acquisitions.

What will be the key milestones for Epiroc in Arizona and Nevada in 2023?

The most important milestone in achieving the vision and delivering on the strategies we have set for our Competence Centers in Tucson and Elko, which are both under construction today. We are investing heavily in training our people and improving our capabilities to take advantage of the market opportunities. We will continue to expand our presence in technology solutions and remain a leader in sustainable innovation.