FORMER Celtite manager Mick Wilkes is the new managing director of expanding American-owned company Jennmar Australia Pty Ltd. The roof bolt and ground support product manufacturer has also made former Ingersoll-Rand ground support specialist Grant Bull its new Australasian sales manager - metalliferous.

The appointments signal a new emphasis by Jennmar, which operates five manufacturing plants in the USA, on growing its Australian business. The local subsidiary operates a factory at Wetherill Park, Sydney, where it makes the Jennmar Friction-Lok stabiliser, plates, w-straps, torque tension bolts, resin and cable bolts, and offers advanced engineering services based on its proprietary strata support STRATASCOPIC/CADD systems.

Jennmar Corporation president Frank Calandra said Wilkes had been involved in mining for more than 42 years, the past 22 years with rival strata support supplier Celtite. He had spent the past 15 years in Australia.

Wilkes is responsible for managing all segments of the Jennmar Australia business, including sales, purchasing, marketing and plant production. His market focus is coal and metalliferous mines in Australia and Asia.

Bull, who is operating out of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, is responsible for sales, marketing and technical support for Jennmar’s metalliferous mining products. The latter area includes underground testing, analysis, consultation and advisory services.

Bull worked with Ingersoll-Rand as a ground support specialist and in the service area between 1989-98. His experienced is said to cover underground metalliferous mining not only in Australia, but also in New Zealand and Indonesia. Most recently he was with Atlas Copco in its rock reinforcement national sales area.