RST DOUBLES REVENUE

GOLD COAST mining services company Reynolds Soil Technologies (RST) will build manufacturing plants in key export markets as it doubles the size of its international operations.

RST director Peter Parkinson says facilities will likely be set up in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and South Africa within six to nine months at a cost of about $200,000 per site. Indonesia and Malaysia are also targets.

The latest expansion plan comes after RST doubled its FY11 revenue result to more than $9 million with similar growth forecast for FY12.

While the majority of RST’s revenue comes from its Australian clients including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and various government contracts, Parkinson says growth is being driven by international demand.

“Despite rapid international growth, international exports currently make up only 12 per cent of our major income producing business, with the majority of our current projects operating on Australian soil,” says Parkinson.

“We estimate in order to reach this goal (doubled profit again) within 12 months, 75 per cent of our focus will again be within Australia, with a further 25 per cent focused on building international opportunities.

“RST has identified that to push further into these international markets we will need to establish manufacturing capabilities overseas. Sometimes distance is perceived as a negative and in the location that we are, it can take seven to 10 days to reach an overseas destination and a further week to leave the ports.”

The Burleigh Heads company specialises in dust suppression, soil stabilisation and erosion control products together with comprehensive data collection and reporting systems. Export operations are already underway in South America, Asia, South Africa and New Caledonia.

Most recently, RST won a contract in the Philippines to build road systems and secured a lucrative South American contract as sole dust suppressant provider to the Pascua Lama mine on the border of Chile and Argentina.

“We call ourselves a ‘particle dust management company’. Dust is everywhere, but in mining operations iron ore and other minerals can find its way into the air and cause health and safety hazards for local communities,” says Parkinson.

“The majority of our work is in our haul road management system which minimises dust coming off mining trucks during transport, but we’ve also got a strong range of road stabilises.”

The latest innovative service offered by RST is in water treatment processes, which settle particles at the bottom of a water supply and allows cleaner water to be used in mining operations.

“Another service in strong demand is that of ‘crusting’,” says Parkinson.

“What occurs is that wet spoils from mining operations picks up particles and is stored in a waste dam. When the water evaporates iron ore particles are usually present and can be picked up in the wind.

“Our services definitely have a great benefit to mining regions in minimising hazardous dust being projected into the air, but the key driver for miners is always production. All of these services, from suppressing dust to creating cleaner water supplies, increase production efficiency and add value to mining operations.”

Parkinson says Australian mining services expertise has become a highly sought after sector in booming resources export markets.