Archive for the ‘February’ Category

REYNOLDS Soil Technologies is one company that would never leave the competition in its dust.

That’s because the Gold Coast firm has built a worldwide reputation for keeping flying particles in mine pits and on civil works sites to a minimum.
RST has emerged from the mining downturn of early last year with renewed vigour as it pursues national and offshore contracts that are expected to boost its turnover almost 50 per cent in the next 12 months.

Although it has been plugging away with its dust-control systems for the past 20 years, RST director and founder David Handel said the environmental debate had boosted business from some of the world’s biggest mining companies in the past five years.

RST is a full-service company that develops and implements dust-management systems using products created by its own scientists.

Traditionally it has applied its products, known as ‘crusting agents’, directly at mining pits, but more recently it has extended its reach to the processing plants and ports, and to the vehicles that transport millions of tonnes of dusty coal and ore to them each year.

RST’s latest target is a tender for Queensland Rail’s coal trains, which are said to lose $16 million a year in coal dust alone through the journey from pit to port.

The QR job will utilise RST’s latest product, Superskin, an emulsion of polymers that uses 90 per cent less product than traditional veneer coatings.

“For QR, for example, we would normally have had to ship up two million litres (of crusting agents) out of our Gold Coast factory to treat all the rail cars,” said Mr Handel.

“With Superskin, we only have to ship 200,000 litres.”

Mr Handel said cartage reduction alone for this job was ‘huge’ for carbon footprint management.

Despite its success, RST remains a relatively small company that has self-funded its expansion.

It employs 31 staff across Australia and turns over $7 million a year, but Mr Handel expected demand for Superskin to lift sales to $10 million in the next year.

RST, which has manufacturing bases at Burleigh Heads and Perth, already earns more than 40 per cent of its income from overseas.

Its plan to open a factory in Brazil in the next six weeks could see more of its income generated offshore.

The Australian market for its products is worth about $40 million, although Mr Handel said this could quickly grow to $200 million.

RST already has contracts in the Pilbara, Hunter Valley and the Bowen Basin with companies such as BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Fortescue Mining.

Mr Handel said he was aware that RST could be on the radar for acquisitive predators.

“We’re getting a lot of people breathing down our necks looking at grabbing us,” he said.

“We’re hanging in there, but the way the industry is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get gobbled up down the track.”

- Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin

David Handel founded RST in 1988, and then company is today, one of the leaders in the Australian dust control scene selling around four million litres annually.

Recently, the Queensland based RST launched a concentrated micro emulsion called Superskin that the company is hailing as a great leap forward.
“Companies need use 90% less of our product than those of our competitors,” said David Handel.

“So if a competitor is using a litre of product per rail car, with us its down to 100 mls.”

RST estimates that for coal wagon dust control, 1000 litres of Superskin will treat 10,000 trains at about $1.50 per wagon.

Besides an extensive range of dust control products for haul roads, tailings dams, conveying and rail systems and transfer points, RST also offers Pit-2-Port and Haul Road Management System (HRMS).

These two fully manged systems include on site service and management, operator training and reporting.

In recent years, RST has expanded into South America, sending some 700,00 litres to the continent, establishing offices in Brazil and Columbia, and winning export awards for its efforts.

The firm has also supplied product to Indonesia for management dust on palm oil plantation roads.

- Australian Bulk Handling Review