Adrian Beer, Chief Executive Officer
METS Ignited has awarded over $2.5 million of matched funding to support accelerating commercialisation of Australian technology.
In six years of operation as an Industry Growth Centre, METS Ignited has invested more than $13M in 26 projects, with over 60 industry participants. Collaborative funding projects have focussed on the commercialisation of technology in the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector.
METS Ignited CEO Adrian Beer said the resources sector is transforming to meet society’s demand for minerals obtained in a sustainable manner.
“We are delighted to see this overwhelming demand for Australian innovation. This round of investment includes technology that delivers safety, autonomy and low emissions technology, METS Ignited continues to invest in Australia’s future” Adrian Beer said.
“By commercialising our home grown innovation through Australian technology vendors, we increase market access to our innovative capability, making Australia an attractive market for further technology investment. These projects demonstrate the importance of resources technology and critical mineral processing for the Australian economy”.
This latest round of project funding is focussed on scaling commercialisation. Six companies who have delivered successful industry pilots were selected to scale their technologies – MyPass Global, ZERO Automotive, Safescape, AMOG, Universal Field Robots and 3ME Technology.
- MyPass Global is a digital workforce management system, designed to streamline safety and compliance in highly regulated industries. Founded in Australia in 2015, MyPass addresses a universal challenge in workforce skills & compliance tracking – by connecting workers, employers, and training providers in one central, web-based portal. Building upon local success, the company is expanding globally into North and South America. MyPass enables businesses to attract, train and develop skilled workers while reducing operator risk and operational cost.
- ZERO Automotive is an emerging Australian cleantech mobility company founded in 2018. ZERO Automotive creates a sustainable future by decarbonising environments through custom battery electric Light Vehicle (bELV) conversions of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV). Their solar chargeable ZED70 Ti model is the first Australian built, Australian road safety approved, underground certified heavy‐duty bELV to be accepted in mining operations, now successfully commissioned and operational in underground mining environments.
- Safescape has a track record of commercialising innovative products that improve safety and efficiency in the mining industry. The Bortana EV is a battery-electric vehicle designed to handle the aggressive operating environment of underground mines. Designed and developed in Australia, the Bortana EV tackles safety and health concerns by reducing emissions, heat and maintenance. Safescape is expanding to support 10 vehicles per month at full production to meet the demand of mines across Australia, with first production scheduled for the second half of 2022.
- AMOG and Omniflex have collaboratively developed Industrial Internet of Things (IIot) instrumentation for the mining industry. The initial technology was created through METS Ignited Collaborative Project funds. Based on the success of the first pilot projects, this project is to accelerate the scaling up of the business to meet global industry demand. This includes expanding production, certification as well as testing and performance verification process, to enable rapid adoption of this innovative digital technology.
- Universal Field Robots (UFR) are an Australian based mining technology company accelerating the automation of mining activities through robotic mobile equipment and vehicles. UFR success has been achieved by collaborative partnerships with miners and service companies that typically have a more ambitious and aggressive approach to automation development. This project will expand the capability of UFR through extending their robot library, enabling the delivery of their robotic application across multiple product platforms improving safety and removing workers from harmful environments.
- 3ME Technology is a battery and heavy electric vehicle technology company. In 2015 the company focused its efforts on the electrification of underground mining equipment. The culmination of this five-year R&D program created the Company’s Bladevolt® battery system. Building on the success with the TRITEV and Bortana platforms electric vehicle platforms, this project will accelerate the production of batteries for 10 Beta Phase Bortana vehicles and Batteries, Drive, software kits and the first 10 TRITEV systems aligned to the longer term demand of over 150 vehicles.
METS Ignited was established as the Industry Growth Centre for the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector. METS Ignited works with Australian suppliers to the mining industry, mining companies, research organisations and capital providers to maintain and improve the global competitiveness and productivity of the Australian Resources Technology sector.
Today, METS Ignited is focussed on the commercialisation of Australian technology; translating our local research and innovations into products and services to serve global markets; delivered by Australian technology companies from within our national economy.
