That is down from the $15-20 a share it had previously forecast.

“And we think we’re going to see our top line sales come off, maybe around $2 billion or so for the year,” Oberhleman told an analysts meeting at Minexpo.

He said he still believed the $15-20 could be achievable but felt it was prudent, given the way the mining market has been heading, to go for the more downbeat forecast.

Prudence is good.

This time four years ago Caterpillar executives were talking about how the mining boom would keep the company rolling on, even though the US construction market had tanked.

Within a month of that the global financial crisis was in full swing.

Not long after that Caterpillar announced some major restructures.

One thing Oberhelman did say, which is certainly encouraging to mining watchers, is that the company would maintain its research and development efforts.

He also said the company was still considering acquisitions but nothing along the lines of the $7.6 billion Bucyrus buy it made last year.

That purchase turned Caterpillar into a true one-stop-shop for miners.

The company always had been strong in the area of trucks, dozers and wheel loaders. It even had – thanks to Australian Caterpillar dealer and inventor Dale Elphinstone – a handy fleet of underground trucks and loaders.

However, the company had not fielded a mining class shovel for many years. Nor did it have a drill fleet.

With Bucyrus it gained those – including monstrous draglines – as well as a fleet of underground coal mining equipment.

Oberhelman said 2013 was likely to be a mirror of 2012 – not great but nothing to sneeze at either.

The company unveiled its dealer statistics for the past three months on September 21.

In the Asia Pacific sales were up 27% for August 2012, down 1% on the July growth but up considerably on the 16% rise posted in June.

In North America the sales results were also positive for the three months up 24%, 25% and 24% in August, July and June, respectively.