The Mission mine is part of the Mission Complex, which also contains the Eisenhower, Pima, Mineral Hill, and South San Xavier properties, and North San Xavier mine, in Sahuarita, Arizona, US. The mine has been in operation since 1961 and has a reserve life extending to 2033.

In conjunction with the DISPATCH 6 FMS, Mission will implement Modular’s ProVision 3 machine guidance solution for drills, shovels and loaders. To augment the capabilities of the FMS, the mine has also selected the Prestart, Blending, Lineup Management, Fuel Service, Crusher, Water Truck, and Speed Management add-on modules. The technologies will be utilised on nearly 40 trucks, drills, shovels, loaders and auxiliary units.

Bjorn Meyer, mine manager at Mission, said: “We are eager to apply Modular’s proven, integrated technology to reduce our cost per tonne mined and price per pound produced during these trying times. Longer term, we see many opportunities to participate in the development and testing of Modular products.”

The mine, located in close proximity to Modular’s headquarters and the proving grounds operated by Modular’s parent company, Komatsu, will also become an instrumental development site for Modular.

Greg Lanz, general manager, North America at Modular Mining Systems, added: “Modular has a long-standing relationship with Asarco and Grupo Mexico, and we are excited about expanding the relationship to the Mission mine. Their proximity to Tucson will allow us to conduct real-world testing, providing us valuable customer feedback and insights into the deployability, usability, and supportability of our products.”

The simultaneous commissioning of the DISPATCH FMS and ProVision 3 solution is slated to begin in mid-2016.