AGR celebrated 30 years of producing and manufacturing sodium cyanide in Western Australia, by inviting customers, suppliers and past employees to an intimate dinner held at the Perth Mint on Friday 22 February 2019.
The evening commenced with a recognition of past and present elders of the traditional owners of the land the Wadjuk Noongar people followed by a special welcome to Gordon Martin, Executive Director Coogee Chemicals, Tim Martin, Executive Chairman Coogee Chemicals, Michael Chaney, current Chairman and former Managing Director of Wesfarmers, David Honey, MLA for Cottesloe and immediate past President of Kwinana Industries Council, Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams, Albert Romano, President of Kwinana Industries Council, AGR Chairman, Ian Hansen.
AGR’s General Manager, Barney Jones was delighted to have customers and suppliers in attendance to help celebrate this milestone.
“AGR would not exist without its customers and suppliers and tonight is as much about acknowledging them and their success as it is about 30 years of AGR,” he said.
Ian Hansen, AGR’s Chairman and Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers Chief Executive Officer, acknowledged the phenomenal growth of the business, since operations began in 1988.
“The initial plant installed capacity started at 15,000 tonnes per annum. In 30 years, this has expanded to 80,000 tonnes per annum. But we can only grow as a business and expand, thanks to our customers and their demand for product,” he said.
In 2002 AGR complemented its product offering with the commissioning of a solid sodium cyanide plant. This has enabled the joint venture to pursue the overseas gold mining market where AGR is now one of the major suppliers.
One of the areas that sets AGR apart from competitors is the level of service it provides its customers. In 30 years of operation AGR have:
– Trained over 20 thousand people in cyanide awareness, worldwide
– Travelled over 89 million kilometres delivering product with no significant incident leading to a loss of containment.
– Sold 783,000 tonnes domestically
“A business can only grow if it is competitive, operates safely, does the right thing by the community and environment and in 30 years of operation, we have not experienced any significant product related incidents,” added Ian.
AGR has built a strong and enviable reputation of being a reliable supplier with a strong safety focus, providing competitively priced product and being focused on the success of our customers.
