Just 8 months after commencing commercial operations, Scanalyse has begun the international roll-out of its 3D laser scanner technology, accompanied by the appointment of a new chairman and a $250,000 capital raising.
Just eight months after commencing commercial operations, Technology Park-based company Scanalyse has begun the international roll-out of its 3D laser scanner technology, accompanied by the appointment of a new chairman and a $250,000 capital raising.
The company’s MillMapper technology, developed by three Curtin University academics in 2000, was released to the market in mid-2006 with the financial assistance of Curtin’s R&D office and the Melbourne-based Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information.
Following its international launch last September in Vancouver, the company is currently in discussions with a North American agent for the distribution of its product in the region, and expects to be on-site in North and South America in July.
The technology, which measures and models grinding mill wear, found a ready market in the Australian and South-East Asian minerals sectors upon its release, and is currently servicing 14 mine sites in the region.
The mapping technology replaces the formerly manual process, which previously cost mining companies upwards of $50,000 per hour in lost production time.
Scanalyse chief executive Peter Clarke said the company was currently in negotiations with several international mining service companies for distribution of its product internationally.
He said the business model the company had adopted allowed it to keep overheads low by outsourcing the on-site work to local agents, with data relayed back to the central Perth office for processing.
“We have very low overheads in terms of labour costs. And all the processing is done automatically,” he said.
Mr Clarke said the company was currently undertaking a $250,000 capital raising to be used bridging finance, while it undertakes negotiations with an engineering services company for a larger capital raising of up to $2 million in six months’ time.
Scanalyse will also apply for further government assistance, including funding from the COMET and Commercial Ready grant schemes.
Mr Clarke said the potential international market value of the technology was estimated at $100 million a year, with an additional 68 Australian sites and 1,500 sites world-wide identified as potential users of the technology.
“We feel we’ve got the technology well under control, and we’ve bought the technology to a point where it’s reliable, and we can product data that the mine sites can use easily,” he said.
In its pursuit of international markets, Scanalyse has appointed former Bains Harding Industries director Alan Tough as chairman, replacing outgoing chairman, Curtin University IP commercialisation director Conrad Crisafulli.
Mr Crisafulli and the Curtin R&D office played a pivotal role in establishing the company, contributing $200,000 towards the development of the technology and assisting in the commercialisation process,
The CRC for Spacial Information injected $100,000 of funding into the research, as well as seed funding for the company.
“The three academics saw the potential of a company being formed and didn’t want to see the technology sold off in its very early stages. They wanted to contribute to that process,” Mr Clarke said.
The technology is currently being used by a number of mining companies including BHP Billiton, Xstrata, Newcrest, Barrick Gold, Newmont and Alcoa, which also assisted in the product’s development .
