Yearly Archives: 2019

Metso has successfully completed the acquisition of HighService Service, the services division of Chilean mining technology and maintenance provider HighService Corp, which has approximately 1,000 employees.

“This acquisition expands our service offering and our customer base in the mining markets of Chile and the Pacific coast and supports Metso’s growth strategy. We are pleased to welcome our new colleagues to Metso and look forward to offering full support to our clients in the region, “said Eduardo Nilo, Senior Vice President of the Pacific Rim market area and General Manager of Metso Chile. all South America except Brazil.

For his part, Hugo Salamanca, president of HighService Corp, stressed that this operation “reaffirms the great work we all do who we form this company and that has allowed us to be one of the leaders of the sector in the country. From HighService Corp we will continue to bring that high standard of quality and service to other areas of the business, betting especially on engineering and construction together with the incursion in new technologies for the industry”.
The acquisition was announced in January 2019 and was approved by Chilean regulatory authorities in April.

Metso Chile press release published on January 2, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. TSE

Metso signed an agreement with HighService Corp to acquire 100% of the property of its subsidiary HighService Service, a leading company in integral, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation maintenance services for mining, which has operations in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, and with 1300 employees.

The acquisition is pending regulatory approval from Chilean authorities and is expected to close during the first half of 2019.

“This operation supports Metso’s growth strategy and will expand our service offering in the important mining markets of both Chile and Pacific Rim. We are very pleased to welcome HighService Service and we hope to offer more complete support to our current and future clients in the region “says Eduardo Nilo, Senior Vice President of the Pacific Rim market area and General Manager of Metso Chile. Pacific Rim covers all of South America except Brazil.

“As a company we have worked hard to be leaders in maintenance services and this transaction is a recognition of our successful career. At HighService Corp we will continue to develop our global leadership, focusing on engineering and construction and the development of technologies in the field of robotics, automation and artificial intelligence, where our company has been a pioneer and has achieved important achievements with the seal of excellence and innovation that has characterized us throughout our history, “comments Hugo Salamanca, President of HighService Corp.

HighService Service

HighService Service (HSS) is a subsidiary of the holding HighService Corp, with extensive experience and more than 20 years of recognized trajectory in integral maintenance, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation, specialized technical assistance and remote monitoring of ring motor drives. Based on the development of human capital and the incorporation of new technologies, HSS provides security, quality of service and operations of excellence.

Metso is a leading industrial company in the world that offers equipment and services for sustainable processing and the flow of natural resources in the mining, aggregate, recycling and process industries. With our unique knowledge and innovative solutions, we help our clients improve their operational efficiency, reduce risks and increase profitability. Metso is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki in Finland and had sales of approximately 2,700 million euros in 2017. Metso employs more than 12,000 people in more than 50 countries.

https://www.metso.com/

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The external company Lloyd’s Register carried out the audit process.

The ISO certifications are fundamental for the continuous improvement of the companies and to differentiate competitively in the market, since they are directly linked to the elaboration of products and execution of processes or services.

They work as a guarantee mark that gives security to the clients and prestige in the market.

To comply with the regulations that require renewing and maintaining these certifications on a regular basis, during the month of March HighService participated in an external audit process, coordinated by the Head of Quality, Rocío Montecinos, along with the external company Lloyd’s Register.

“The auditors verify compliance with the regulatory requirements of ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 14001: 2015 and OHSAS 18001: 2007, through audits in the management area (headquarters) and selected contracts. Once the audit is done, they determine the re-certification of the companies “, explain the executive.

The purpose of this process is to verify compliance with the requirements that the standards require and to keep the certifications in the following areas of action:

ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System.

ISO 14001: 2015, Environmental Management System.

OHSAS 18001: 2007, Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

In this audit process were evaluated the headquarters and some critic processes. The result was a successful re-certification in the following scopes:

HighService Corp: Management and Corporate Management Services, Finance, Public Prosecution, Commercialization and Business Development.

HighService Service: Electrical, Mechanical and Instrumentation Maintenance Services.

HighService Engineering and Construction: Construction and Industrial Assembly Service.

HighService Technology: Design and Production of Technological Solutions for Mining.

“We are proud of having successfully renewed the ISO certifications, which allows us to continue offering our customers services and products with high standards of quality, safety and protecting the environment in each of their processes”, concludes Rocío Montecinos.

Development and diversification of services, due to the long relation between both companies.

HighService Service and Minera Los Pelambres established their employment relationship in 1999, through an electrical maintenance contract and instrumentation for the plant, concentrator, molybdenum and tailings that remains in effect to date. In all this time, that is, in 20 years, there has been no accidents with lost time. It is a very important milestone and a strategic pillar of this long two decades of existence working relationship.

The solid link between HighService Service and Minera Los Pelambres, based on responsibility, professionalism and teamwork, has been the main key to achieve this good results and keeping a close work relationship over the years.

According to Mario Arros, Operations Manager of HighService Service, the strategic relationship that Minera Los Pelambres generates with its contractors is unique: “As an operating model, there is no other mining company alike Pelambres. Unlike others, the relationship between the contractor and the principal is very close and that makes a difference, because they treat us as allies and work as a team”.

Thanks to this joint work with Minera Los Pelambres, HighService Service has grown exponentially over the years, incorporating the mechanical specialty in its service offer and added value, with new contracts that include the areas of crushing and transport of coarse ore.

Reducing costs and optimizing safety measures are part of the challenges for the mining industry and its associates. During 2018, MIRS was the protagonist in important milestones achieved in these matters.

The advances in automation and robotization of mining and associated industries are part of the challenges to reduce costs and increase the safety of operations, central objectives of the large mining companies in Chile.

To face these challenges, during year 2018 the mining companies and associated industries have made a gradual technological incorporation that already has achieved some milestones, with the contribution of MIRS.

At the beginning of 2018, MIRS inaugurated the MI Robotic Sampler at Impala Terminals Peru, a robotic application that allows the accurate extraction of representative and incorruptible mineral samples, eliminating error and cross-contamination. The technological solution was highlighted in the year-end event held by the Peruvian company. For this year, Glencore joins in the implementation of robotic technology at Minera Antapaccay and Puerto Matarani.

In March, the former Executive President of Codelco, Nelson Pizarro, came to the premises of the Ventanas Refinery to know in the field the improvements implemented in the Robotic Laminating Machine of Initial Laminates, developed by MIRS.

During the second semester, MIRS received the “National Safety Council” prize, thanks to the effective results in the prevention of occupational hazards, achieving the lowest frequency rate in its category.

In November, BHP published a report on the Robotic Handler for Trommel palmettes of MIRS, for Minera Escondida. This robotic solution allows automatically and remotely the replacement of the Trommel palmettes during scheduled stops of the SAG mill, tasks that were previously done manually.