Australian Mining spoke to White Industries’ new business development manager Geoff Lee about the company’s rising profile.
Geoff Lee is no stranger to foundries.
“I originally started my career in the design office of a large foundry group before moving into sales and marketing roles with them for several years,” Lee told Australian Mining.
“I have great passion for all the efforts and stringent controls that go into each process in casting metal products.”
Having worked with Tier 1 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and monitored product performance improvements on mine sites, Lee has witnessed first-hand the impact of downtime caused by product delays and poor imported quality.
Now, he has joined White Industries as its new business development manager (BDM). As a well-known ISO-quality-endorsed supplier, White Industries manufactures and delivers cost-effective ferrous and non-ferrous castings through its facilities in Dalby and Ipswich, Queensland.
The castings are available in materials such as stainless steel, manganese steel, low-alloy steel, ductile iron, grey cast iron, phosphor copper nickel, gunmetal and aluminium.
The Dalby facility, the largest privately-owned foundry in Queensland, can lip pour and bottom pour up to 6.5 tonnes (t). It also contains several induction furnaces: 1x3t, 2x2t, 1x750kg and 1x40kg.
The Ipswich site, which White Industries acquired four years ago, comprises a 1x5t and 1×2.5t induction furnace. The site can lip pour up to 22t and bottom pour up to 12t.
“White Industries’ ability to supply product locally at global quality standards in the toughest mining conditions, all from a Queensland base, is unrivalled,” Lee said.
“We understand the importance of product performance quality, which will benefit White Industries’ customers with local in-country supply and on-site technical support.”
As BDM, Lee will facilitate the supply of high-performance castings to OEMs in the pump and equipment sectors, enabling local support, faster response times and supply certainty.
“I will also be looking to build on White Industries’ current work in the Australian defence supply chain and target select global export opportunities,” Lee said.
“White Industries’ expansion through the Ipswich foundry is a great opportunity to build on its well-established reputation of supplying quality castings from small critical componentry through to the larger, high-performance castings the Australian mining market demands.
“For medium- and low-volume products, the ability for a customer to have faster turnaround, dependable supply with intellectual property (IP) integrity helps customers optimise their local stockholding needs.”
Recent months have seen global trading affected by China expanding its export controls list and the US introducing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
As global interconnected supply chains become more uncertain on pricing and availability and the impacts of inconsistent imported foundry quality or lead times are felt, Lee believes local delivery speed and design integrity become even more critical.
“White Industries’ proven local supply consistency and secure IP integrity have seen it become a trusted long-term partner in the Australian mining, power generation and agricultural markets,” Lee said.
“We’re looking to transfer these proven qualities into the defence and energy infrastructure sectors and expand our footprint beyond Queensland across Australia.”
A proudly family-owned business, White Industries is continuing to invest in its facilities and helping customers grow their businesses through long-term partnerships.
“Understanding customer needs and tailoring White Industries’ offerings for quality and IP protection are critical to supporting our valued customer base,” Lee said.
“By boosting local OEM partnerships and expanding our defence force supply, White Industries is driving long-term success for the business and the local families it supports.”
This feature appeared in the August 2025 issue of Australian Mining.
