Metso–MRA Automation acquisition: integrated bulk handling control for mine engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Metso has acquired Newcastle-based MRA Automation (Multiskilled Resources Australia Pty Ltd), a specialist in engineering, automation and software for bulk material handling systems at ports and terminals worldwide. The deal adds MRA’s digitalisation and control expertise for shiploaders, stacker–reclaimers and conveyor networks to Metso’s existing crushing, screening and conveying portfolio. For mine and terminal operators, this signals tighter integration between mechanical handling equipment and advanced automation platforms, with a single OEM able to deliver end-to-end design, control and optimisation support.
Technical Brief
- Acquisition covers MRA Automation’s engineering, automation and software teams based in Newcastle, New South Wales.
- Scope centres on bulk material handling systems for ports and export terminals rather than in-pit haulage.
- MRA’s portfolio typically targets shiploaders, stacker–reclaimers and long overland conveyor networks at coastal hubs.
- Control solutions focus on integrated machine sequencing, interlocks and collision-avoidance logic across multiple yard machines.
- Digitalisation work includes supervisory control, condition monitoring and production reporting for high-throughput export chains.
- Clients are global port and terminal operators handling iron ore, coal and other bulk commodities.
- Newcastle base positions the automation team close to major Australian coal and iron ore export corridors.
- For mine–port chains, deal enables single-vendor responsibility for both mechanical handling assets and control software lifecycle.
Our Take
Metso has featured repeatedly in recent coverage as a full flowsheet and services supplier – from Concorde Cell™ flotation at Barrick’s Lumwana expansion to a €128 million gold plant for Ma’aden – so adding MRA Automation in Newcastle, NSW, strengthens its ability to bundle material handling and automation into these large EPC-style packages.
Our database shows Metso also pushing into aftermarket and performance-based contracts, with more than 100 new Life Cycle Services agreements reported, and owning an Australian automation specialist like MRA Automation is likely to deepen its local service and retrofit offering for brownfield mines in NSW and wider Australia.
With Metso already supplying grinding mills to projects such as the Viscaria copper mine restart in Sweden, integrating MRA Automation’s material handling capabilities suggests a strategy to control more of the comminution-to-stockpile interface, which can be a bottleneck for both throughput and reliability on new and expanding projects.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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