Queensland Company Uses its Own Resources to Tap Mining Boom

19 April 2006

A Queensland steel fabrication company has used its reputation for quality and on time delivery to win a growing slice of the resources industry business.

Queensland Steel Products was established in Rockhampton in 1986 and has achieved preferred supplier status with BHP Billiton, Queensland Magnesium, Austrak and GL&V Dorr Oliver. It has also carried out major fabrication projects for other major organisations including, Orica, Thiess, Veolia Water and John Holland.

Managing Director and founder, David Parker, and Design Engineer, Kim Laundry, have established and sustained long term business relationships with resources industry heavyweights while the company has also successfully completed major one off projects.

"We've learned to be flexible, because the resources industry can change very quickly," Kim Laundry said. "You have to maintain a reputation for dependability and keep improving your quality."

Queensland Steel Products uses XLERPLATE® steel from BlueScope Steel, sourced through local distributor OneSteel Metaland. The company uses XLERPLATE® steel for general fabrication work including concrete railway sleeper moulds and float cells for process operations at minerals processing facilities and mine sites.

"We've been producing the concrete railway sleeper moulds for sleeper manufacturer Austrak for almost eight years," Kim Laundry said. "You might think that would be a very simple job, but really there is a lot involved.

"Austrak design engineers modify their designs to suit individual projects. The sleeper requirements can change from one project to the next, depending on whether a passenger line or a freight line is involved and according to the weight to be carried by the track.

Queensland Steel Products fabricated over 1,000 concrete sleeper moulds for Austrak plants at Katherine and Tennant Creek during construction of the Darwin to Alice Springs rail line and is now producing new moulds for Austrak projects in Queensland.

The moulds include sections of 4mm, 6mm and 8mm XLERPLATE® steel in 250 grade and are built to tolerances of less than one millimetre.

"It mightn't seem to be such a crucial thing for a railway sleeper, but when you are producing them in the millions the potential concrete savings are significant," Kim Laundry said. "Another consideration is that the surface quality of the steel used for the moulds has to be first rate. With some steel you find that mill scale is dislodged when the first batch of sleepers are moulded and that is something to be avoided. We haven't had that problem with XLERPLATE® steel."

Mr Laundry said the current health of the resources sector had provided Queensland Steel Products with increased orders.

"Engineers always want their orders filled today, but we are finding that some planned replacement and expansion projects have been expedited," he said. "We are currently fabricating float cell components for two mines in Indonesia which fall into that category."

Queensland Steel Products had previously fabricated 100 cubic metre float cells for Mount Isa Mines. The quality of that work contracted through an international company specialising in liquid/solid separation equipment and process technology ultimately led to the contracts for the Indonesian mines.

"Float cells and their components are other examples of what may seem a simple fabrication tasks, but where quality control is important," Kim Laundry said. "The steel is not in contact with the process water. It's protected by a rubber membrane.

"We use XLERPLATE® steel for the fabrication process because of its consistent quality and because it provides a good result in the next production stage where sandblasting and the application of a rubber membrane are required. The useful working life of the float cell, and our reputation, is determined by the quality of the steel to which the rubber lining is applied."

"The company has always operated by building close relationships with customers and suppliers where confidence is built up and maintained by delivering a quality product. That's what we've got through OneSteel Metaland and XLERPLATE® steel."