Epiroc purchases fast assay tech company

Global mining equipment and technology supplier Epiroc is making another acquisition in its buying spree of mining tech companies, this time with an Australian mining and logging company and its cutting-edge assay service.

Following the trend of purchases that include Meglab, a Canadian-based company that specializes in providing electrification infrastructure to mines, to MineRP, a decades-old software provider for digital mine integration, to collaborations such as those with Orica, a company with expertise in explosions by delivering the first semi-automated explosives delivery system, and the European Union's NEXTGEN SIMS project or Next-Generation Carbon-Neutral Pilots for Smart Intelligent Mining Systems, Epiroc has been on a torrent of expansion, endeavoring to shift the future of mining seemingly all on its own.

Now, Kinetic Logging Services Pty Ltd., an Australian company that provides mining companies with geophysical logging services, is soon to come under the banner of Epiroc, enabling hyper-efficiency for assay results.

OreSight, the flagship product from Kinetic, is the world's only semi-automated high-efficiency downhole assay service. The company's OreSight vehicles allow clients near real-time borehole assay data, input directly into blast pad models, enabling immediate decisions on production and ore blending.

"Epiroc is looking forward to welcome the great team at Kinetic Logging Services to the Epiroc Group," said Epiroc President and CEO Helena Hedblom. "Together, we will provide a wide range of smart products and services that strengthen mining customers' end-to-end productivity, and we look forward to bringing OreSight to our customers around the world."

By replacing the older methodology of generating large quantities of physical samples and transporting them for analysis, Kinetic's OreSight allows for the collection of geochemical data using FastGrade tools on blast-pads which see 50 to 60 holes logged in a single 12-hour shift, with data automatically transferring via 4G to real-time operations centers.

FastGrade comes from the French-based Sodern, an optics company specializing in space instrumentation, optics, and neutron analyzers. The technology is founded upon a neutron analytical technique called pulsed fast and thermal neutron activation (PFTNA), which scans and categorizes atoms.

Using FastGrade, Kinetic has successfully implemented its OreSight, thus allowing for hyper-fast results for assays that ordinarily take several weeks or even months.

With this acquisition, Epiroc has stepped up its game once again and continues to show the world it is a world leader in mining.

The acquisition is expected to be finalized sometime during the second quarter of this year.