The Weir Group has agreed to acquire Motion Metrics, a Canada-based mining technology business, for an initial consideration of £89 million ($119.3 million) payable in cash upon completion, subject to customary net debt and working capital adjustments.
Motion Metrics is the market leading developer of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 3D rugged Machine Vision Technology used in mines worldwide. Its technology helps miners increase safety, efficiency and sustainability of their operations. As part of the agreement, Motion Metrics Vancouver headquarters will become Weir’s global centre for excellence in AI and Machine Vision technology.
Motion Metrics applications are highly complementary to Weir’s product portfolio. It will join the ESCO division reflecting the early adoption of its technology in ground engaging tools (GET) where ESCO is an established leader. Motion Metrics AI and Machine Vision capabilities are expected to be leveraged across the whole mining value chain served by the Weir Group.
In 2021, Motion Metrics generated revenues of £9 million ($12.1 million). Initial integration efforts will focus on leveraging Weir’s global sales network and the ESCO division’s large installed base to rapidly expand adoption of this value enhancing technology by its mining customers thereby driving significant revenue growth.
“The combination of Weir and Motion Metrics will be extremely powerful and reflects our ambition to play a leading role in mining’s technology transformation,” Jon Stanton, Weir Group CEO said. “Motion Metrics not only provides access to innovative and highly relevant technology that will accelerate growth in our ESCO division, but it also brings world-class expertise in AI, rugged 3D Machine Vision technology and data science that is applicable across the group. This acquisition is fully aligned with our strategy and our commitment to grow ahead of our markets, expand our margins and significantly reduce our customers’ environmental footprint.”
Motion Metrics produces smart, rugged cameras that monitor and provide valuable and timely data on equipment performance, faults, payload and rock fragmentation. This data is then analyzed using embedded and cloud-based machine learning to provide real-time feedback to the mining operation. This enables immediate identification of potential issues that could impact safety and cause expensive unplanned downtime. This includes boulder and foreign body detection to dislodged ground engaging tools that can critically damage crushing equipment if undetected. It also provides information that can be used to optimize asset efficiency, supporting better decision making as miners seek to increase productivity while reducing energy consumption, particularly in areas such as comminution (crushing, screening and grinding), one of the most energy-intensive processes in mining.
These technologies were initially developed for GET applications but have recently been extended into a suite of products and solutions that can be applied from drill and blast through to primary processing. Motion Metrics technology is currently used on more than 80 mine sites and its customers include some of the world’s largest mining companies.
