Mount Isa business owner’s innovation means new opportunities in mining
December 6, 2024
MOUNT Isa businessman Adrian "Popey" Pope could be onto the next major advancement in mining after acquiring a significant engineering company based in Melbourne.
In the past, mining companies have been forced to purchase parts overseas, but Adrian Pope and Andrew Clingeleffer of B&S Engineering are looking to change that, making it possible to produce mining machinery and technology here in Australia.
At a press conference alongside KAP leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter, Bob Katter and the B&S Engineering team shared new opportunities to expand Australia's already substantial mining efforts.
"Initially, the attraction of B&S is it's been long established in the industry, its capabilities are second to none. It's in the top two per cent for manufacturing capabilities in Victoria. We bought the technology for the mining industry to this facility, and we started manufacturing our new prototype drifters (rock drills)," Mr Pope explained.
"I spent my early years in mining. Mining is about drilling a hole, putting explosives in it and blowing the wall out. Drilling is at the heart of mining," Mr Katter said.
Australia's mining industry could experience a boom once word gets out about Mr Pope's new drifter.
"Now, Adrian's got a variable drifter – so every time you go from sandstone to hard rock, you don't have to take the thing to pieces; it'll adjust itself," Mr Katter explained.
"The importance of this breakthrough is considerable – we're one of the great mining countries on Earth. We're not small boys on the block here, and this is an area where we've got an advantage and we're going to press home that advantage and you're seeing that taking place here today thanks to Andrew and to Adrian."
The importance of local manufacturing is not lost on Mr Pope, saying, "We've purchased this factory to control costs internally. It was really a no-brainer for us to come down this road. If COVID taught us anything, it's that we don't manufacture enough in Australia.
"I'm very passionate about what we do here in Australia, and to be able to create more jobs and do things locally in the manufacturing industry has been absolutely magic."
The variable drifter, along with other technological and industrial advancements and opportunities provided by B&S Engineering, would decrease expenditure and reduce delays – bolstering the capacity of the North West Minerals Province, where much of Australia's resources are.
Robbie Katter concluded by saying, "It's pretty exciting to see this all come from someone who was a jumbo operator in the mining industry, who's now owning and designing these manufacturing processes and machines – the parts for those same jumbos he worked with back at the beginning.
"It's a pretty exciting time. With efforts like this, we can start winning the war back and creating manufacturing capabilities in Australia once again."
ENDS
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