Mining services provider Austin Engineering’s (ASX:ANG) South American business unit has completed the manufacture and delivery of a Cat 7495 model dipper bucket as part of a key order fulfilment for its Chile-based customer.
A dipper bucket is a large, heavy-duty bucket attached to a power shovel that is used for digging and loading materials like rock, ore, or coal.
The electric rope shovel order — valued at $2.5 million — was manufactured at Austin Chile’s facility in La Negra.
While Austin Chile has conducted dipper and other bucket builds for South American customers, it is the first time it has manufactured a Cat 7495 dipper bucket for local delivery in Chile.
The dipper weighs 86 tonnes and can shift 100 tonnes of material per pass.
CEO David Singleton says this delivery is a milestone and the company completed this build while also expanding the manufacturing facility to cope with the larger throughput that is expected in FY26 and beyond.
“I’m pleased to see the bucket business growth that has followed the Mainetec acquisition into international markets like Chile,” Singleton says.
“We continue to see further sales opportunities on the back of South America’s growing mining industry, particularly in copper, lithium and other critical minerals, and our local operations are ideally placed to become a key strategic partner for the region’s mining sector.”
In 2022, Austin purchased Australian bucket manufacturer Mainetec to expand its bucket offering and market high-value dipper buckets internationally to regions like the Americas where there is a large dipper bucket market to service large-scale mining operations.
Since the acquisition, Austin has expanded its bucket offering abroad for bucket builds, rebuilds, and services.
Austin Engineering partners with mining companies, contractors and original equipment manufacturers to create innovative engineering solutions that deliver productivity improvements to their operations.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Austin Engineering
