IRVING,
Texas, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BHP
Group Limited (NYSE: BHP) (BHP), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT)
(Caterpillar), and Finning International Inc. (TSX: FTT) (Finning)
announced today an agreement to replace BHP's entire haul truck
fleet at the Escondida mine, the world's largest copper producer,
located in the Antofagasta Region, northern Chile.
This agreement is part of the strategic equipment renewal
process developed by Escondida. The new Caterpillar 798 AC electric
drive trucks will feature technology that delivers significant
improvements in material-moving capacity, efficiency, reliability,
and safety and generate a positive impact in key initiatives for
the future, such as decarbonization, diversity and inclusion,
autonomous technologies, and the development of local
capabilities.
Moving towards mining of the future
The first trucks are expected to arrive at the mine in the
second half of 2023, with delivery of the remaining trucks to
extend over the next 10 years as the three companies work to
replace one of the largest fleets in the industry worldwide,
currently comprised of over 160 haul trucks. Maintenance and
support services provided under the agreement advance BHP's local
employment and gender balance strategies. Finning´s Integrated
Knowledge Center, located in Antofagasta, will provide top of the line
industry technical support for the fleet.
The agreement also allows Escondida | BHP to accelerate the
implementation of its autonomy plans by transitioning the fleet to
include technology that enables autonomous operation. In addition,
the agreements set forth a technological path that helps Escondida
| BHP meet its decarbonization goals, through the progressive
implementation of zero-emission trucks.
BHP, Caterpillar, and Finning uphold their commitment of
contributing to the economic and social development of Antofagasta, through the generation of local
capabilities related to the development of mining equipment
technologies.
"This agreement is an important step to continue projecting into
the future Escondida | BHP´s leadership in the industry. It will
allow us to generate significant efficiencies at the operational
level, but it is also in line with some of the main challenges that
drive us as a company: innovation for the future of mining,
decarbonization, and development of capabilities in Antofagasta´s
community. We have great expectations regarding the benefits that
will be generated in the short and long term for both the company
and the Antofagasta region," said
James Whittaker, President of
Escondida | BHP.
"The Caterpillar team is excited to support the successful
deployment of machines and technology that will facilitate a
step-function improvement in BHP's operational excellence. We
applaud BHP as this mine site transformation accelerates the
delivery of their aggressive sustainability targets," said
Denise Johnson, group president
Resource Industries, Caterpillar Inc.
"We are very pleased to build on our long-term relationship with
BHP to support its Escondida operations by improving efficiency,
productivity, and safety, as well as reducing its carbon footprint,
supporting its diversity and inclusion journey, and contributing to
the development of capabilities in Antofagasta. This is the largest fleet deal in
Finning's history, and will significantly expand the Caterpillar
truck population and support the transition towards cleaner energy,
with electric drive trucks, and future zero-emission trucks," said
Scott Thomson, president and CEO of
Finning International.
About BHP
BHP is a world-leading resources company
headquartered in Melbourne,
Australia. We operate at more than 90 locations around the
world our teams work on extracting, processing and transporting the
high-quality commodities the world needs to grow and decarbonise.
Copper for renewable energy. Nickel for electric vehicles. Potash
for sustainable farming. Iron ore and metallurgical coal for the
steel needed for global infrastructure and the energy transition. A
resources mix for today and for the future. Further information on
BHP can be found at bhp.com.
About Caterpillar
With 2021 sales and revenues of
$51.0 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is
the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining
equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial
gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years,
we've been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world
and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our
innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer
network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed.
Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating
through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource
Industries and Energy & Transportation – and providing
financing and related services through our Financial Products
segment. Visit us at caterpillar.com or join the conversation
on our social media channels.
About Finning
Finning (TSX: FTT) is the world's
largest Caterpillar dealer delivering unrivalled service to
customers for nearly 90 years. Headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia, we provide
Caterpillar equipment, parts, services, and performance solutions
in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, the United
Kingdom, and Ireland.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this
press release relate to future events and expectations and are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe,"
"estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate,"
"plan," "forecast," "target," "guide," "project," "intend,"
"could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often
identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook,
projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do
not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they
are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and
regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the
industries we serve; (ii) commodity price changes, material price
increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant
shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal
policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability
and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate;
(v) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our
products and our competitive position, including the imposition of
new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates; (vi) our ability
to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our
customers' needs; (vii) the impact of the highly competitive
environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (viii)
information technology security threats and computer crime; (ix)
inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our
dealers and our OEM customers; (x) a failure to realize, or a delay
in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions,
joint ventures or divestitures; (xi) union disputes or other
employee relations issues; (xii) adverse effects of unexpected
events; (xiii) disruptions or volatility in global financial
markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our
customers, dealers and suppliers; (xiv) failure to maintain our
credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of
borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity,
competitive position and access to capital markets; (xv) our
Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial
services industry; (xvi) changes in interest rates or market
liquidity conditions; (xvii) an increase in delinquencies,
repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xviii)
currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with
financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xx)
increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) alleged or actual
violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxii)
additional tax expense or exposure, including the impact of U.S.
tax reform; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits
or government investigations; (xxiv) new regulations or changes in
financial services regulations; (xxv) compliance with environmental
laws and regulations; (xxvi) the duration and geographic spread of,
business disruptions caused by, and the overall global economic
impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic; and (xxvii) other factors
described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-Looking Information Caution Provided by Finning
("we", "our" or "us")
This announcement contains information
that is forward-looking. Information is forward-looking when we use
what we know and expect today to give information about the future.
All forward-looking information in this announcement is subject to
this disclaimer including the assumptions and material risk factors
referred to below. Forward-looking information in this announcement
includes, but is not limited to, the following: our supply of
Caterpillar 798 AC electric drive trucks in the renewal of the
entire mining haul truck fleet at BHP's Escondida mine (the actual
number of trucks to be supplied may vary from the size of the
current fleet); the improvements expected to be delivered by the
technology featured on the trucks; our expectation that delivery of
trucks will commence in the second half of 2023 and continue over
approximately 10 years (which period may ultimately be shorter or
longer); our provision of related maintenance and support services;
and the expectation that the agreements will help Escondida | BHP
to accelerate the implementation of its autonomy plans and
establish a technological path to meet its decarbonization goals.
All such forward-looking information is provided pursuant to the
'safe harbour' provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws.
Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking information in
this announcement reflects our expectations at the date in this
announcement. Except as may be required by Canadian securities
laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking information, whether due to new information, future
events, or otherwise.
Forward-looking information, by its very nature, is subject to
numerous risks and uncertainties and is based on assumptions. This
gives rise to the possibility that actual results could differ
materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by such
forward-looking information and that those expectations and other
information that are not historical fact may not be achieved. As a
result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information
will materialize. Forward-looking information in this announcement
is based on assumptions that we believed were reasonable today, and
include, but are not limited to, the specific assumptions stated
above and the assumptions that present supply chain challenges will
not materially impact equipment and parts deliveries and Escondida
| BHP's autonomy plans and decarbonization goals are achievable.
Some of the assumptions, risks, and other factors which could cause
results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking information contained in this announcement are
discussed in our current Annual Information Form (AIF) and in our
annual and most recent quarterly management's discussion and
analysis (MD&A) for the financial risks. These documents are
available under the Finning profile at www.sedar.com. We caution
readers that the risks described in our AIF and in our annual and
most recent quarterly MD&A are not the only ones that could
impact us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known
to us or that are currently deemed to be immaterial may also have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or
results of operation.
Forward-looking information is provided in this announcement for
the purpose of giving information about our current expectations
and plans, however, readers are cautioned that it may not be
appropriate to use such forward-looking information for any other
purpose.
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SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.