Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

BHP to supply Tesla with nickel

Mining group BHP will supply electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla with nickel from its Nickel West operation in Western Australia. The company has been ramping up production in the west in anticipation of rising demand from EV manufacturers. The company increased output by 11 per cent to 89,000 tonnes in the June quarter. Nickel West is an integrated mine to metal operation with open-cut and underground mines, concentrators, a smelter in Kalgoorlie and refinery in Kwinana, WA. Production is sold as powder and briquettes. Tesla has signalled its intention to purchases Australian lithium, nickel and rare earths.

Micro-X to enter veterinary X-Ray market

Cold cathode X-Ray machine manufacturer Micro-X will enter the veterinary market after being awarded a $525,000 Commercialisation Fund Grant from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre. The company will develop a veterinary version of its lightweight portable Nano and Rover X-Ray machines aiming at horse and livestock markets. It will launch a $1.17 million project to develop the X-Ray trolley system to provide mobility and deployment of X-Ray diagnostics outside the veterinary hospital setting. Following the launch into veterinary market, Micro-X will take the next steps at validating the trolley for human X-ray imaging. Micro-X uses a unique carbon fibre nanotube X-Ray emitter, which is lighter, less power consuming and more rugged that traditional technologies.

Traffic Technologies to supply LED street lights

Traffic light and control systems manufacturer Traffic Technologies has had its contract to supply LED street lights to Tasmanian electricity transmitter and distributor TasNetworks for an additional 12 months until October, 2022. TasNetworks is responsible for 50,000 street lights across the island state, with the contract extension worth more than $3 million. Traffic Technologies has supplied 20,000 P and V category LED lights to TasNetworks to date. The lighting is associated with the deployment of the company’s Smart City Platform technology in the state.

Senex to supply gas to Adbri

Chemicals and building products group Adbri has signed a long term gas sales agreement with Senex Energy to fuel its South Australian manufacturing sites. Senex will supply natural gas at the Moomba gas hub over a seven-year period from January, 2023 at prices in line with market levels. Adbri CEO Nick Miller said the agreement would underpin the company’s low-cost and low-carbon cement productions, while also supporting the local economy. Adbri employs 1,600 across 160 facilities. Since 2019 Senex has signed close to 60 PJ of natural gas sales agreements with manufacturers including CSR Building Products, Orora packaging, Visy Glass, CleanCo Queensland and Southern Oil Refining.

Abcam will make reagents for Proteomics

Perth biotechnology group Proteomics will have reagents manufactured for the immunoassay version of its PromarkerD test system by Nasdaq listed Abcam. The test system is used to predict the onset of diabetic kidney disease, allowing earlier treatment. Abcam will produce synthetic proteins and antibodies used in the blood testing system.

Picture: Nickel West

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