Zero to hero: How a mining startup build a $50m business

A Queensland mining services firm that has grown to a $55m business in just five years has won a major national award and plans to double its workforce.

Valenhold has achieved enormous growth over the past five years.

A Queensland mining services firm that has grown to a $55m business in just five years has won a big gong in the 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards.

Valenhold, which provides service and parts for mining fleet operations, was named national winner in the outstanding growth category in the awards announced at a gala event in Melbourne on Thursday night. Valenhold provides parts and other services to support the heavy mobile machinery being used some of the world’s largest miners across the Asia Pacific. Last year, the company was hired by global copper and gold mine client in Mongolia to help overhaul an extensive fleet of haul truck.

Following significant investment in the business, the company’s revenue has accelerated from $700,000 in 2017 to $55 million in the past two years with more than 800 trucks under rebuild programs and over 52,000 heavy mobile equipment parts supplied across five continents. Valenhold says it is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion, with more than half its workforce being women.

Valenhold was founded in 2015 by Garth Chester, Wayne Trench and Wendy Zhang with the idea of bridging the gap between high quality, low-cost manufacturers and service providers and miners.

Chester, a former military aircraft engineer, says the company had identified a gap in the market to service mobile mining equipment and now operated across 14 different countries. He says the company plans to double its existing workforce of 30 over the next 12 months while revenue would grow at an annual pace of 20 percent. “It was great to be recognised in the awards particularly against some very impressive companies,” he says.

Telstra group executive consumer and small business Brad Whitcomb says the winners of the annual awards have been carefully chosen from more than 20,000 nominated small and medium businesses nationwide.

“The national winners have demonstrated remarkable excellence in their respective categories and are a testament to the incredible business owners in this country,” says Whitcomb.

Valenhold has achieved enormous growth over the past five years

Plot thickens

Brisbane mining tech firm Plotlogic is working with some of the country’s biggest resources companies as they seek more efficient mining operations.

Started by industry veteran Andrew Job while he was doing his PhD at the University of Queensland, Plotlogic recently secured a contract with ASX-listed Pilbara Minerals to trial its technology at the Pilgangoora project in Western Australia, the largest hard-rock lithium operation in the world.

Plotlogic’s platform uses a combination of advanced imaging and artificial intelligence to locate ore bodies in a much more accurate way than traditional mining methods.

This enables mines to operate far more efficiently with less wastage and environmental impact. Job says the technology can extend the life of existing mines, helping eke out the last remaining value from projects in their final years of operation.

Plotlogic chief executive Andrew Job

It can also revive industries, with Plotlogic working with Australia’s only operating primary tungsten producer, North Queensland’s EQ Resources, kickstarting a sector that has been dormant in Australia for more than three decades because of the exorbitant costs involved as well as environmental legacy issues.

Plotlogic has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months - signing four of the world’s top five mining companies, completing a $25 million capital raise backed by BHP in its first investment in a mining tech company and the investment vehicle of former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

Quite amazing growth considering the company was just a concept two years ago. With mines under more pressure than ever to be efficient, Job says Plotlogic’s tech is becoming increasingly popular as a vital tool for helping the mining industry meet new requirements as it transitions toward net zero.