Modular

Tucson, Arizona – November 03, 2003

Modular Mining Systems, Inc., introduces the MineCare^® Maintenance Management System—a large-scale interactive maintenance software application that increases mobile equipment availability, reduces maintenance costs, and provides mines with a powerful tool for making informed maintenance decisions. The system accomplishes this by enabling mines to:

Detect equipment degradation in the early stages
Increase the ratio of planned to unplanned repair activities
Avoid catastrophic component and equipment failures
Efficiently manage maintenance events and personnel

The MineCare^® System gives Mine Maintenance groups the ability to shift maintenance practices from reactive to planned. By integrating predictive maintenance data, maintenance history, and operational data, the system provides both up-to-the-minute and historical maintenance information, making it easy for decision makers to respond proactively to maintenance concerns. Maintenance personnel are notified in real-time of degradation in equipment health so that repairs may be planned and completed prior to catastrophic failure.

"Maintenance represents the largest controllable cost in the mining industry," stated Michael Lewis, Manager of Mine Services for Modular Mining Systems. "Significant improvement to a mine's bottom line can be achieved through shifting from reactive to planned maintenance philosophies. MineCare provides mines with the tools to do just that—manage maintenance in a proactive manner and contribute significantly to overall asset retention and cost savings."

The MineCare^® utilities allow users to perform a variety of key functions, from receiving notification of equipment health degradation, to real-time monitoring of OEM monitoring systems, to creation of repair orders, to managing the maintenance process, to generating equipment health or KPI reports. Maintenance personnel can use this information to validate and trouble shoot anomalous conditions remotely without ever leaving the office. Since a significant amount of troubleshooting and diagnostics can be performed remotely without interrupting the load-haul-dump cycle, downtime is minimized. Additionally, improved documentation of equipment failures and repair activities supports advanced maintenance programs (such as reliability centered maintenance, failure modes and effects analysis, and route cause failure analysis) that can improve cost effectiveness.

Key features of the MineCare^® System include:

Automatic Data Collection—Collects, analyzes data from OEM monitoring systems onboard equipment based on user defined criteria such as operating mode or physical location
Interface to 40+ OEM Monitoring Systems—Virtually every OEM monitoring system (including: engine, drive, tire, and payload systems) from major open pit and underground equipment manufacturers available—with more to come
Real-time Diagnostic Tools—Specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of maintenance managers, supervisors, planners, engineers, technicians, and coordinators
Real-time Notification of Events—Notifies maintenance technicians, supervisors, or analysts in real-time of events (OEM monitoring system, user defined, and trending module alarms); Automatically detects anomalous conditions through trend analysis process
Maintenance Process Management—Comprehensively manages repair activities from problem identification through planning, execution, and documentation
KPI Reporting—Supports failure modes and effects analysis, root cause failure analysis, Mean time to failure, and more

The MineCare^® system integrates seamlessly into Modular's IntelliMine^® mine management system or operates as a stand-alone product. The system's main components include: Modular's Hub on board trucks, shovels, drills, and auxiliary equipment; the MasterLink™ data radio network; the MineCare^® ODBC compliant database and server; PCs used by maintenance analysts, supervisors, and technicians; and MineCare^® utilities that run on the PCs.

"Mines using both the MineCare and IntelliMine systems achieve the added benefits of increased equipment utilization through automatic, optimized haul truck assignments," noted Lewis.

About Modular Mining Systems, Inc.

Modular, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, is the market share leader in providing powerful information management solutions to meet the needs of both open pit and underground mining operations worldwide. The company's products range from fully automated, total mine management and control systems using the latest high-precision global positioning systems for surface applications, to proven mining cycle control, monitoring, and identification systems for underground mines. Modular has sales and support offices located in all key world-mining markets. For more information on Modular, the MineCare^® Maintenance Management System, or its new, revolutionary systems for rail management and equipment automation, visit Modular's website at http://www.modularmining.com.

Email: products@mmsi.com

Phone: 520.746.9127