WesTrac’s Digger and Drill Services has been designed to keep mining machines operating for longer, by providing on-site WesTrac experts and technicians to handle the entire lifecycle of diggers and drills, ensuring faster diagnosis of equipment issues, proactive monitoring of downtime catalysts, and immediate on-site machine maintenance.
Recently, a mining customer using the newly created service in Western Australia reported a reduction of more than 760 hr in downtime, equal to 3.6 million t of additional ore moved on site.
This was a result of the Digger and Drill Services team working directly with the miner to review asset lifecycle strategies, plan event sequencing, and embed a team of technicians on-site to provide specialist support.
Digger and Drill Services has the capability to execute machine rebuilds on site, removing the need to transport big rigs to city centre and providing a high return-on-investment by extending asset life for a fraction of the cost of a new machine.
While the cradle to grave service is currently only offered in Western Australia, WesTrac CEO Jarvas Croome said interest has already peaked in New South Wales for the customised service.
“WesTrac’s Digger and Drill Services has started to fill a gap we’ve identified within the mining sector, by helping companies to improve machine availability, reliability, and reduce downtime, ultimately streamlining their operations,” Jarvas explained.
“The service has been successful to date due to the capabilities of our specialised WesTrac technicians and the ability to seamlessly fit our teams onto a mining company’s existing operations, ensuring consistency of support and availability of staff.
“We also work hand-in-glove with our mining customers to provide a customised strategy to maintain and manage their assets into the future, ensuring they’re getting the most out of their machines.”
Since its launch in 2024, WesTrac’s Digger and Drill Services has delivered and supported nearly a dozen diggers and more than 18 drills across nine mine sites in Western Australia, covering the Pilbara, Goldfields and South West.
Jarvas said mining customers can choose the extent of support provided from WesTrac, including on ground maintenance at operating mine sites, a dedicated fly-in, fly-out shutdown crew, or full end-to-end maintenance and management.
“The structure of Digger and Drill Services reflects the increasing demand for end-to-end support by the mining industry, while still offering flexibility in the level of support provided,” Jarvas said.
“For Australian operations, having a viable and flexible solution for end-to-end mining support in their own backyard is a gamechanger, particularly at a time of macroeconomic pressures, rising inflation, and global supply chain disruptions.”
WesTrac Digger and Drill Services Business Unit Manager Chris Rowe said the new service area has doubled in headcount over the past two years and will only grow as demand increases.
“In the next six months alone, we’ll be looking to bring on additional roles into the unit for highly experienced and skilled technicians who are passionate about making a difference in the Australian mining industry,” Chris said.
“By embedding our people on site and pairing their expertise with our Regional Branch network, we see a significant opportunity to provide greater support for our mining customers across Western Australia and beyond.”