Mining companies buy most of their equipment and many services from specialist suppliers, often called OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). The suppliers sell machines through dealers, and earn much of their income from spare parts, wear parts and service over the life of each machine. The names below are facts about who makes what, not a ranking, an endorsement or investment advice.
Orica, Dyno Nobel, Enaex, AECI and Maxam are among the companies that supply mines with explosives, initiating systems and blasting services. This page covers company history only, not how explosives are made or used.
Questions people ask
Who makes mining equipment?
Large mining machines are made by a fairly small group of companies. Caterpillar and Komatsu make haul trucks, shovels and underground machines. Liebherr and Hitachi make trucks and excavators. Epiroc and Sandvik make drill rigs and underground loaders. Metso and FLSmidth make crushers, mills and flotation plant, and Weir makes slurry pumps and wear parts. Orica and other explosives makers supply blasting products and services. This is a list of facts, not a ranking or advice.
Where did Caterpillar come from?
Caterpillar was formed on 15 April 1925 by the merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company and the C. L. Best Tractor Company, two California makers of track-type tractors. Benjamin Holt had tested his first track-type tractor near Stockton in November 1904. Caterpillar was based in Peoria, Illinois, for more than 90 years, moved to Deerfield, Illinois, and since 2022 has had its headquarters in Irving, Texas.
Who owns Bucyrus and Joy Global now?
Caterpillar completed its purchase of Bucyrus International, maker of draglines, rope shovels and underground coal machines, on 8 July 2011. Komatsu completed its purchase of Joy Global, which owned the P&H shovel and Joy underground mining brands, on 5 April 2017 and renamed it Komatsu Mining Corp.
What is Epiroc?
Epiroc is a Swedish maker of drill rigs, rock tools and underground mining machines. It was split off from Atlas Copco, which was founded in Stockholm in 1873 and began making rock drills in the early 1900s, and its shares were first listed on Nasdaq Stockholm on 18 June 2018.
Who makes mining explosives?
Commercial explosives and blasting services for mines come from companies such as Orica, Dyno Nobel, Enaex, AECI and Maxam, among others. Orica traces its roots to Jones, Scott and Co, which supplied explosives to the Victorian goldfields from 1874, and later became part of Nobel and ICI before taking the Orica name in 1998. This page covers company history only, not how explosives are made or used.
