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Local Buying Program helps Queensland suppliers to expand

iCutter Industries is a small Indigenous mining exploration and drilling business based in Mackay, Queensland, that has worked with the coal industry in the Bowen Basin for more than 30 years.

In 2018, the company joined BHP’s Local Buying Program (Program) to gain greater exposure to our operations, expand work opportunities, and receive continuous business support from our partner C-Res. Since joining, we have approved a total spend of around $650,000 with iCutter Industries over 30 work orders.

Dallas Morris, Services Manager at iCutter Industries, said the increase in work orders that resulted from the Program helped them expand the business and hire four new permanent staff members from the community.

“Partnering with BHP has allowed us to grow from a small family run business to now support four local jobs”, he said.

“The growth of our team is exciting for us as it means we can apply our services to even more sites across Australia’s East Coast.”

Dallas said the company also received more business leads and expanded its own network of local suppliers since joining the Program.

“Continued support from BHP has helped us gain further trust in the industry, giving our small business a fair opportunity against larger competitors,” he said.

“We have received many business opportunities which we would otherwise not have reached, allowing us to help more mine sites reach their drilling targets safely and efficiently.”

The Program exists in partnership between BHP and C-Res and has operated successfully in Queensland since 2012, New South Wales since 2016, and South Australia and Western Australia since 2017. In May this year, we celebrated a total spend across our registered Australian suppliers of $500 million. Read more about this impressive milestone here.