Thiess has taken delivery of the 6,000th Caterpillar D11 dozer, marking a meaningful moment in its 90-year association with Caterpillar
Global mining services provider Thiess took delivery of the 6,000th Caterpillar [Cat] D11 dozer at its Lake Vermont mining operations in Queensland in September, another milestone in its 90-year collaboration with Cat.
The 6,000th D11 dozer was shipped 15,000km from the Cat factory in Peoria, Illinois, USA, last year to Queensland, where dealer Hastings Deering delivered the machine to Thiess at the mine, in the Bowen Basin mining region.
“The association with Cat goes back nine decades to 1934 when the fledging Thiess Bros business started with Caterpillar Model 15 and 22 tractors in their fleet,” Thiess executive chair and CEO Michael Wright says.
“As the company grew and took on bigger and bigger projects, the brothers progressively upsized, acquiring a Caterpillar D4, D6 and then a D8 – the most powerful dozer at the time.”
There are currently 310 Cat dozers across Thiess’ operations over seven countries, including six that are equipped with Cat’s MineStar Command for Dozing semi-autonomous tractor system [SATS], with the companies having signed a global agreement to collaborate on mining solutions last year.
Growing relationship
Caterpillar Resource Industries’ group president Denise Johnson adds that she looks forward to growing the company’s relationship with Thiess.
“With innovation at their core, the Thiess team have embraced automation technologies beyond SATS for their D11 dozers to include command for drilling,” she says.
“They recently celebrated 1 million metres autonomously drilled using three Cat drills, and command for hauling to boost truck productivity through autonomous haulage.”
Hastings Deering CEO and Managing Director Mark Scott said the company was “honoured” to celebrate the milestone.
“The delivery of this new Caterpillar D11 dozer reflects our enduring shared commitment to quality and efficiency,” he says.
“Hastings Deering is proud to support Thiess across Queensland and the Northern Territory to increase productivity, reduce costs and introduce new technology.”
- Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to receive the latest news in the earthmoving industry
- Never miss a great deal and subscribe to our monthly magazine
- Download a free copy of our latest digital magazine to catch up on the biggest news and developments in the earthmoving industry