Major milestone as Northern Ireland AI mining business ships its first 'big drill rig' to Australian firm
This autonomous reverse circulation drill rig has been manufactured and sold to industry leading drilling contractor, Major Drilling, for use at a tier 1 iron ore mining asset in Australia
Artificial intelligence mining business Tribe Technology has shipped its first autonomous reverse circulation TTDS GC 700 drill rig from the manufacturing site in Belfast.
This is a major milestone for the company and is the culmination of significant engineering hours over the last four years, pioneering design and innovation along with extensive collaboration with our first customer.
This first drill rig has been manufactured and sold to industry leading drilling contractor, Major Drilling, for use at a tier 1 iron ore mining asset in Australia.
Delivery to Australia is on target for the end of September 2024.
Following arrival in Australia, the company will undertake validation of the drill rig in the field in conjunction with the customer during the fourth quarter of 2024.
Charlie King, chief executive officer at Tribe Tech, explained: “We are extremely pleased to have accomplished this major milestone of shipment from our factory in Northern Ireland of the first autonomous reverse circulation drill rig to Major Drilling’s subsidiary McKay Drilling in Australia.
"We look forward to the demonstration of the operation of the drill rig in the field and this will be a tremendous platform for expanding our customer partnerships. I would like to thank McKay Drilling for the significant support in the development phase of this product and belief in the Company to deliver this first innovative drill rig.”
About Tribe Tech
Established in 2019, Tribe Tech is an AIM listed company founded to create a safer, more efficient work environment through the development of fully autonomous RC Drill Rigs and sampling solutions for the mining industry.
Based in Northern Ireland and Western Australia, the Group’s core activities are the development, in-house manufacturing, and sale of its autonomous RC Drill Rigs incorporating its core proprietary intellectual property, the Tribe Technology Drilling System (“TTDS”).
In March 2024, the Company completed the build of the world’s first autonomous RC Drill Rig following orders from Tier 1 mining companies.
Tribe Tech’s market-leading technology will help to revolutionise the mining industry, enabling digitisation and intelligent insight through Artificial Intelligence (AI), dramatically improving safety outcomes and streamlining operations.