Australian Based Company Announces Plans For Bucks County
BUCKS COUNTY, PA (CBS) -- An Australian company has just opened a new high-tech industrial processing plant for the abrasives market, by repurposing a former steel plant in Bucks County.
The world's largest garnet abrasives supplier, Perth based GMA Garnet CEO Stephen Gobby says they are excited to launch its $20 million Fairless Hills facility.
"We see the U.S. as offering the largest growth, and hence, investing in such a large size plant to capture that growth opportunity," he said.
Garnet is known as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly mineral that can be recycled. GMA's blast cleaning abrasive is used by oil companies and shipyards.
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Gobby says its abrasive is also used in waterjet cutting machines.
"Cutting very small pieces for medical technology, parts in the defense industry, and for parts in engines in planes that fly around the world," he said.
GMA's source of garnet for the U.S. market comes from its mines in Montana and South Africa.
It also has a large garnet deposit in Western Australia for Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
"We're proud of the fact that GMA is the only fully integrated supplier of garnet globally, from mine to customer," he said.
This year, the company is on track to sell more than 500,000 tons of garnet globally.
