Willy Blackbee: Practical Problem Solver and Expert
Willy Blackbee, is the Managing Director and head of operations for BSC. Well known in the Goldfields area of Western Australia, he is the go-to person for polyurea applications in mining.
With a background in industrial spray painting, Willy arrived in the Goldfields in 1994. Taking up a position as the crushing and mill operator in the Ora Banda Gold Mine he rose, over the next eight years, to be a shift boss. First-hand, he experienced the damage that processing minerals could do to equipment. He was also on the receiving end of the problems arising from bad coating applicators and the wrong products.
In 2002, Willy was introduced to a new spray-applied high build polymer coating material called polyurea. Immediately he knew that this would solve many of the problems he saw every day on mine sites.
One obvious application was for lining steel rail wagons used to transport high saline iron ore from the Koolyanobbing Mine in Western Australia. The wagons were corroding at an extremely concerning rate. Willy developed a decontamination and re-lining process that meant many of those wagons are still in use today. Over 700 new and used wagons were eventually lined, then later relined, at the purpose-built blasting and coating facilities designed and built by Willy on the client’s sites in Kalgoorlie and Esperance.
Willy's innovative thinking revolutionised the relining of SAG and Ball mills. By using polyurea as the shell backing liner instead of rubber, he slashed days off mill re-line times. Polyurea proved more resilient than rubber and had fewer bolt breakages.
As well as throughout Australia, Willy and his teams have successfully applied polyurea on sites Internationally. Mines in PNG (Lihir, Simberi and Porgera), Dubai, Oman, Dohar, New Zealand, even Kyrgyzstan have benefited from his expertise.
After many years as Operations Manager at Nukote Australia, Willy now runs his own handpicked crews of the best operators in the business.
What do we apply?
The right product to suit your project and budget. Nothing else is good enough.
BSC experience means that we can work to your specification or recommend the best products and processes to meet or exceed your goals.
Where do we work?
We are based in Western Australia, servicing mainly the local mining industry from our self contained trucks.
Our trucks can drive to, or be transported anywhere in Australia for your project.
We set up containerised application units for international projects and have extensive experience working in Papua New Guinea.
What do we protect and coat?
Polyurea is ideally suited for coating steel and concrete, but can also be applied to wood, polyurethane and many other substrates.
A seamless, monolithic (single layer) of durable polurea contains liquids, protects from abrasion and chemicals, rebuilds degraded substrates and can be recoated.
Choose polyurea when fast cure, high build, flexibility and performance are required.
Examples in the mining industry are process and CIL/CIP tanks, chutes, rail wagons, transport bins, Ball/SAG mill linings, screen decks, structural steel, containment bunds, plinths and trommels.
We understand what is required
Are you concerned that your coating contractor won’t perform? That their work won’t be done on time, that they may cause a safety incident, or that their product might not last? A wrong move could lose your company a fortune and maybe even lose you a job.
We understand your concerns and that is why every Blackbee Specialist Coatings applicator is an experienced professional dedicated to exceeding your expectations. We care as much as you do about your project, because our reputation is based on doing every project right first time.