H & B Mining has established itself as a specialist in conveyor transfer design for the Australian mining industry. H & B’s conveyor products are recognized as standard inclusion for well-known mining companies BHP- Billiton, Rio Tinto, FMG and Roy Hill.

Eddy Hodgkinson is the founder and owner of H & B Mining which has now been running for over 20 years. Born and bred in the industrial city of Middlesbrough, England, Eddy served his apprenticeship as a structural engineering draftsman with Redpath Dorman Long – British Steel. After spending 5 years in South Africa gaining valuable experience on materials handling projects, he then moved onto his next challenge in Western Australia.

During his early years in W.A. Eddy worked for two prominent materials handling companies, PHB Weserhutte and Thyssen Krupp. Here he consolidated his expertise in design detailing for mining conveyors, gaining valuable experience in the bauxite, iron-ore and gold mining within Western Australia.

In the early 1990’s, Fidia Drafting and Engineering was established with over 30 employees. As a design and engineering company, Fidia Drafting completed work for BHP, Hamersley Iron (now Rio Tinto) and Alcoa, amongst others. During this time, good working relationships were established with maintenance supervisors and common conveyor transfer maintenance issues were discussed, with customised conveyor design solutions being developed.

The starting point for H & B Mining came with the first patented conveyor product. It began with a ‘Eureka’ moment during a site visit at Nelson Point. A BHP Maintenance Supervisor highlighted a need for a simpler, easier method to change out conveyor idler rolls. H & B Mining’s first product followed – the Drop Down Conveyor Idler.

H & B Mining has now been consulting with maintenance crews and mining supervisors for over 25 years and has developed a suite of products for mining conveyors with safety, maintainability and productivity at the core of every design.