The International Resource Journal: Gekko Systems

Gekko Systems
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admin on 13 November, 2009 11:29:00
 
Many a grand plan is hatched at the kitchen table, including Gekko Systems, a
minerals and metallurgy processing company from Victoria in Australia, founded
in 1995 by Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, CEO and Managing Director, and husband, Sandy
Gray, Technical Director.
“We founded the company originally to develop an invention (the InLine
Pressure Jig) that my husband had made when he ran his own mining
operation,” Lewis-Gray explains.
“An important part of that early founding was that we had a small amount
of research funding which we had to match from the Australian Federal
Government. That research allowed us to take the product and trial it in a local
gold mine. We established an interest in the product quite early on and we had a
large dollar value of prospects.”
With the ball rolling, Lewis-Gray turned her attentions and stock broking
background to raise investment in Gekko Systems, acutely aware that a status as
a “mum and dad company” might stave off customer interest in the
product.
“People were a little reluctant to purchase and we decided that it was
because we were still a “mum and dad” operation. Due to the
significant investments the mining industry makes in capital equipment, we felt
that the industry was never going to really feel comfortable buying from a
relatively low capitalized business,” she explains.
“I used my financial background to go out and raise some capital. We had
an equity injection which we  used to employ professional staff, to improve the
overall quality of the business as well as investing time in product
development. Our first couple of years were quite slow, however, once we
injected capital into the business we moved to the next level and grew quite
rapidly.”
Gekko Systems: The full package
Lewis-Gray says that Gekko Systems began marketing the InLine Pressure Jig (IPJ)
“primarily on the basis it was price competitive compared to other
products in the marketplace.”
“When we installed the IPJ in mines, a lot of gold was recovered, but
there wasn’t a good vehicle to treat it. That led to the development of
the next critical product, the InLine Leach Reactor (ILR) which treated the
down-stream concentrate,” she says.
“After about three or four years we surveyed our customers and realised
that some installations were not working because of the way they had been
engineered by third parties into the plant.”
This discovery enabled the next company expansion “to start selling the
product within modular frameworks, a plug-and-play” solution.
“Rather than giving them a single unit product that they had to supply the
entire infrastructure around, we provided the necessary pump and electrical
connections so that they did not have to do all of the engineering around the
project. That enabled us to control all of the quality and performance of our
unit, as well as being able to provide more of a solution,” Lewis-Gray
explains.
Products for real customer benefit
As Gekko Systems’ team worked on their goal “to provide step-change
financial and environmental benefits to our customers,” the company
investigated how they could lower costs for customers.
“Most mining companies break up their costs into mining, metallurgy and
other.  Our products provide metallurgical solutions, but we found that, in
general, the vast majority of companies hold most of their costs in mining. We
decided that if we were really going to make an impact and help our customers we
had to use our products to reduce the mining costs. The way we’ve done
that is by taking the processing of ore to the face of the ore body,”
Lewis-Gray says.
“In most mines, people dig ore, put it in a truck or shaft, transport it
to a plant to be treated, then take approximately 80 or 90 per cent of that and
put it back in the mine. This means they’ve moved, for example, 100 tonnes
there and brought 90 tonnes back. We ask, why don’t you pre-concentrate at
the ore body and take 30 tonnes there and 20 tonnes back? Depending on how much
remains at the plant, we can substantially drop the cost of mining for those who
have an ore body that suits our system.”
This is the philosophy behind their latest product, the Python. “Providing
real benefit to our customers by reducing their total costs of business
substantially, is our goal,” Lewis-Gray explains.  “We think that we
can reduce total mining costs by 25 per cent, which is very exciting.”
Lewis-Gray further advises that underground processing has a significantly lower
environmental impact by reducing fuel, transport, power and chemical
requirements—with only 10-30 per cent of the ore body needing to be
treated with cyanide. In addition, the Python has a very small footprint.
Another interesting aspect in the Gekko Systems’ InLine Leach Reactor is
“enabling technology” for the Python, Lewis-Gray says.
“Without the ILR, it would be very difficult to treat the ore extracted
from the pre-concentration stage. The technology is also used in silver refining
and concentrate treatment recovery,” she continues.
“The InLine Leach Reactor product is very critical to our business. It is
relatively unique due to its ability to treat coarse mineral particles rather
than other leaching which needs finer particles.”These products exemplify
the company focus on innovative mineral processing.
Gekko Systems: Innovation that works
It’s a simple enough concept that has served the company well over the
past 12 years: innovation that works.
“It’s critical for mining companies to be at the forefront of
innovation and be aware of innovation occurring in the marketplace. That’s
how ore bodies are converted from having a high cut-off grade to a lower cut-off
grade and much larger resource,” Lewis-Gray says.
“If companies can lower their cost of capital installations and
substantially lower operating costs, they can completely turn around the
financial viability of a project. It’s really at their own peril if they
don’t look at the options of alternative processing methods and their
cost-saving implications.”
Gekko Systems has come a long way since its origins around a kitchen table in
1995. The company retains a strong focus on driving down costs and improving
environmental outcomes for our customers and is committed to making this, their
goal, happen.
“Part of that is to be a much focused technology provider to the global
minerals industry,” Lewis-Gray says.
A family-founded company with a keen eye on innovation and advancing market
trends, Gekko Systems stands strong amongst its counterparts and looks
well-equipped for future success.
For more information on Gekko Systems,
visit www.gekkos.com.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
* Highly Commended Australian Mining Prospects Awards, Minerals Processing Plant
of the Year, 2008
* Winner Warren Centre For Advanced Engineering, Innovation Hero Award, 2007
* Highly Commended Australian Mining Prospects Awards, Minerals Processing Plant
of the Year, 2006
* Winner Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur Of The Yea, Technology, Communications,
E-Commerce & Life Sciences, Southern Region, 2005
* Inducted into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame, 2004
* Winner Best Early Stage Category Award, Australian Venture Capital Awards,
2003
* Innovation Award, CGU Ballarat Business  Excellence Awards, 2003
* Deloitte Technology Fast 50, 2003
* Winner Telstra and Australian Government Small Business Cisco Innovation
Award, 2002
* Deloitte Technology Fast 50, 2002
* Winner Clunies Ross National Science and Technology  Award (AH Gray), 2002
* Winner Governor of Victoria Export Award,  Minerals Section, 2000
* Winner AusIMM Mineral Operating Technique  Award (AH Gray), 1998
* Winner Australian Emerging Micro Business Award, 1998