Thiess has announced the commencement of mining at Olive Downs Complex in Central Queensland.
Thiess Group Executive Assets, Technical Services and Technology Ramesh Liyanage and General Manager Mining Vikesh Magan have joined Pembroke Resources Chairman and CEO Barry Tudor, and senior executives from Caterpillar, Liebherr, and Hastings Deering to make the achievement.
The official moving of the first dirt commemorated the safe deployment of Thiess workers, plant, and equipment to the site, including a new Liebherr R 9800 excavator and numerous Caterpillar autonomous-ready 794 AC haul trucks. It is a crucial milestone for the Olive Downs Complex to implement both Cat® MineStarTM Command for hauling and Command for drilling — Caterpillar’s autonomous hauling and drilling solutions.
Thiess, Pembroke, Caterpillar, and Hastings Deering will deliver 21 autonomous haul trucks, three autonomous drills and a private LTE network for the complex to enable entire operations to resume in late 2023.
Liyanage viewed the Olive Downs Complex as an appropriate fit for Thiess’ growth to the next level of technology and sustainable mining with the ultimate objective of generating better value for its clients.
“The moving of first dirt recognises our partnership with Pembroke and the hard work, passion and ingenuity of hundreds of people across our teams, suppliers, partners and communities where we operate. Together we look forward to pioneering a new standard for project delivery,” Liyanage said.
Thiess Group Executive Chair and CEO Michael Wright said, “We share Pembroke’s vision for Olive Downs Complex and look forward to leveraging the power of our people and technology to deliver a world-class, sustainable mine.”
Tudor stated that the milestone is a testament to the companies’ united commitment to surpass expectations and highlight the skills offered to increase safety and profitability and maximise mine life.
“We’re excited for Thiess to deploy autonomous equipment and processes to the Olive Downs Complex. Implementing this technology will not only enhance safety and productivity but also contribute significantly to the achievement of our sustainability goals: improving energy consumption, lowering carbon emissions and decreasing our ecological footprint,” Tudor added.
According to Thiess, the Olive Downs Complex ensures the sustainable production of steelmaking coal and gives the flexibility for Pembroke to export high-quality coking coal and pulverised coal injection (PCI) products to important markets like Japan, South Korea and India.
Pembroke and Thiess will continue to work closely at the Olive Downs Complex, consolidating its status as a world-class, modern mine that can efficiently and cost-effectively deliver high-quality coking coal for decades.
