Greymouth engineering identity Eddie Gray has exited the engineering firm he helped found 40 years ago to manage a new enterprise to extract 'rare earth' minerals at Cape Foulwind.
Eddie Gray contemplates his next move after farewelling his labour of love. Photo: LDR
Gray completed his final day on Friday at Gray Bros Engineering and started yesterday as operations manager for Westland Mineral Sands, which only a week ago gained consent from the West Coast Regional Council to develop a mine on 25ha of farmland on a secondary dune inland from Okari Beach.
The company plans to extract heavy mineral concentrate, which contains elements used in the manufacture of titanium, for example.
It is the first in a broader plan by Westland Mineral Sands to also develop operations on the West Coast and to foster a supporting coastal shipping service which will also serve the economic base of the wider region.
The company has also signed lease agreements with both the Buller and Grey district councils to use or operate their port facilities.
Gray said his move was a natural fit with his skills and aspirations for the West Coast.
At the same time he had mixed feelings in saying goodbye to the company he formed.
"It's hard to let go really - it's been a long time."
He and brother Paul Gray started the business "from scratch" when he was 23. They were later joined by brother Mike and eventually developed the current site at South Beach. They sold the business a decade ago.
He was particularly proud of the important training base Gray Bros had provided for the engineering sector saying it had turned out a lot of apprentices in his 40 years.
At the same time, heavy engineering in the region continued with the burgeoning gold mining sector, in particular the large underground operation tapping into historic workings at Waiuta, leading the transition from coal, Gray said.
Eddie Gray started Gray Bros Engineering from scratch with his brother Paul when he was 23 and they sold the business a decade ago. Photo: LDR
Mining was in his blood, with family roots in Denniston and Kumara going back more than 100 years, and the plans by Westland Mineral Sands for Buller and eventually Westland was something he was "pretty passionate about".
His working life has involved a fair bit of mining, including a foray to the Yukon in the early 1990s building gold screens, and closer to home with gold in the Grey Valley.
Through it all Gray Bros had been heavily engaged in manufacturing goldmining equipment but also for a multitude of other sectors across New Zealand and worldwide.
He estimated over 90 gold screens had passed out the door at Gray Bros in his time.
"We've got stuff all over the world."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air