Resources & Materials Available
ML-7 ore-cutting laser
Hard-rock cutting without blasting, using about a third of the energy of a mechanical cutter, within a software-limited cutting envelope.
The ML-7 cuts hard rock by heating it until it spalls, removing material without explosives and without the vibration of a mechanical cutter. At the Kalgoorlie test mine it used 67 percent less energy per tonne than a 2018 roadheader in comparable rock, and needed no one at the face.
The laser head traverses on a two-axis mount. Its cutting envelope is set in software for each installation and verified at commissioning; on sites where the laser is a licensed autonomous system, the envelope forms part of the license and the laser will not aim outside it.
Specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Optical power | 120 kW continuous |
| Traverse | ±170° azimuth, −10° to +60° elevation, software-limited |
| Cutting rate | Up to 44 t/h in granite |
| Cooling | Closed-loop water, 1.2 MW |
| Mass | 41 t with mount |
| Introduced | March 2026 |
| Power supply | 11 kV, 1.9 MVA, through the ML-7 conversion unit |
| Carrier | Tracked carrier or fixed frame, remote or on-board control |
Availability
First deliveries are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, to mines in Western Australia and Chile. Lasers are offered for sale or on a rate per tonne cut, which includes service, emitter exchanges and the field engineer’s time. Mines that want to see the ML-7 working can arrange a visit to the Kalgoorlie test mine through Resources & Materials in Perth.
Applications
The ML-7 is designed for development headings and stopes in hard rock, where blasting is slow, disruptive and increasingly restricted near towns and other workings. It is mounted on a tracked carrier or a fixed frame, and powered from the mine’s high-voltage supply through its own conversion unit.
Because it does not blast, the ML-7 lets a mine keep working in adjacent headings while it cuts, and removes the need to clear people from the area before each round. Spalled rock is collected by a standard loader.
Commissioning and service
Each laser is commissioned by a TriOptimum field engineer, who sets its cutting envelope for the site, tests the limits with the customer and records them in a signed commissioning report. Changes to the envelope after commissioning require a new report. Lasers are serviced on site every 1,500 operating hours; emitter heads are exchanged rather than repaired.
The mining laser at Citadel Station (TR-02072), an earlier design licensed in 2004, is suspended pending the Turing Registry’s review of every TriOptimum filing, and has been locked out.