Filtrabit signs partnership in Australian mining sector with Arizon Building Systems and GFM Engineering

The partnership agreement includes a feasibility study and a commitment to deliver the first installation of a flow-dynamic dust separator for an Australian mine.

GFM Engineering Solutions specializes in designing and delivering industrial dust control solutions to various industries, particularly mining. The company also provides consulting services to optimize dust containment in process plant designs for minerals such as Iron Ore and Mineral Sands.

Arizon Building Systems provides enormous climate controlled open-span buildings for various use cases across industries. In mining, a common application for their domes is protecting large material stockpiles from catching wind and becoming airborne particulate emissions.

Filtrabit offers patented technology based on flow dynamics to solve dust and micro-particle emissions in industrial applications, such as mining, without the use of water. Filtrabit’s solution creates a raw material side stream that helps offset both net CO2 emissions and the leasing cost of the modular unit.

Partnership goals

An immediate goal for the partnership is to perform a feasibility study in a mining application in the unique environment of the Australian outback. As part of the study, a flow-dynamic dust separator unit will be delivered and installed at a participating client’s mining operation.

The purpose of the study is to gain reliable data on the effects of the technology in three main areas: material recovery, saving precious water resources, and the effective capture of fine particles endangering worker health.

Dr. Kim Fagerlund, CEO of Filtrabit:

“The Australian mining sector is at a critical juncture, balancing immense production demands against strict new occupational health mandates and a harsh, water-scarce environment. Our 100% dry, flow-dynamic technology was engineered for exactly these types of extreme operational challenges. 

We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Arizon Building Systems and GFM Engineering Solutions. Together, we are bringing our Dust-Removal-as-a-Service (DRaaS) model to the Australian outback — eliminating water waste, protecting worker health, and driving true raw material circularity in a vital new market.”

Fred Ferreira, Director of GFM Engineering Solutions:

“We are a specialist company in industrial dust control solutions with two main branches of solutions — dust suppression systems using high pressure water spray techniques, and ducted dust extraction systems that don’t use water.

Filtrabit’s solution was immediately interesting to us when we first learned about it. The operational environments our clients work in have such varied requirements that the benefits of this type of modular ducted dust extraction system seemed obvious to us. We didn’t waste any time in starting to pursue this partnership and we’re very glad to include Filtrabit’s solution in the engineering and project services we provide.”

Anthony Milton, Founder of Arizon Building Systems Australia:

“At Arizon Building Systems, a lot of our core expertise is in clean air and how to direct its flows in massive indoor spaces. Our U.S. parent company also owns and operates multiple companies specialising in HVAC systems.

Adding Filtrabit’s innovation to our product offering makes perfect sense in this context. We see a lot of potential in helping our industrial clients with the very real problems with fine particles they’re facing. The impending regulation crystallises the need into a very actionable status in the industries we’re serving — especially mining.”

Australia’s mining sector

The mining industry accounts for more than 12% of Australia’s GDP and over 70% of its export earnings. Australia is a globally critical supplier of numerous minerals, producing 43% of the world’s Lithium as well as 38% of Iron Ore.¹

With more than 40 publicly traded mining and metals companies exceeding a $1 billion market cap², the opportunities for a value-adding service provider are abundant. Two of the mining companies — BHP and Rio Tinto — are valued above $200 billion, ranking them in the top 100 largest public companies in the world.

2026 regulation for Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) in Australia and its impacts on mining

Australia is leading the world in its charge to eradicate silicosis and other pulmonary diseases resulting from workplace exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS). Its government includes the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency, whose Silica National Strategic Plan 2024-30³ is being put into action with legislation.

Starting December 1st of 2026, all companies working with Crystalline Silica Substances (CSS) are subject to limit the exposure of their employees to strict, 0.05 mg/m3 limits averaged over an 8-hour workday.⁴⁵

Any material containing at least 1% of its weight of crystalline silica is considered a Crystalline Silica Substance, or CSS.⁶ This definition includes nearly all of the different host rock types for resource mining⁷⁸, as the most common form of crystalline silica occurs as the mineral quartz⁹, which in turn is one of the most common minerals found in the Earth’s crust.¹⁰

Numerous processes within mining qualify as High-risk Processing of Crystalline Silica Substances¹¹, requiring multiple specific actions to reach compliance.

Only at the very bottom of the hierarchy of controls¹² is using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), meaning that companies must do everything in their power to use engineering controls like local exhaust ventilation if the hazard can’t be entirely isolated from people using enclosures and automation. In a resource mining context, substitution of the material — the top choice in the hierarchy — is impossible.

Additional requirements for High-risk Processing of CSS include air monitoring as well as health monitoring and yearly refitting of the Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) of individual workers.¹³

In practice, personal air monitoring is to be conducted using a device worn in a worker’s breathing zone, outside any RPE, calibrated to measure the RCS particle load in the PM4 range.¹⁴¹⁵

The extremely small size of the particles, 4 microns and under in diameter, inevitably drives the engineering controls required towards a local exhaust ventilation approach at the source of the dust-generation. Using water-based suppression to try to drop particles of this size that have already become airborne, runs into severe physics-based challenges. Larger water droplets create a streamline, pushing the smaller particles around them, rather than dropping them out of suspension. The whitepaper Fugitive dust in mining and what to do about it goes into more detail on this effect.

Individual responsibility

Individual workers or managers that fail to follow the new laws could face fines of up to $8,400.¹⁶

The legislation even regulates facial hair that would interfere with the seal of the worker’s Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE).¹⁷

About Arizon Building Systems Australia
Arizon Building Systems Australia is the world’s largest manufacturer of air supported structures (Air Domes). They design, supply and install Air Domes and bespoke HVAC systems throughout Australia and New Zealand.

www.arizonbuildingsystems.com.au/

About GFM Engineering Solutions
GFM Engineering Solutions provides complete solution packages in industrial dust control for mining and industry more broadly. The offering includes ducted dust extraction systems, dust suppression systems using high-pressure water, and consulting services to minimise dust emissions from process plants.

www.gfmes.com.au/

About Filtrabit
Filtrabit is a Finnish manufacturer of innovative industrial dust extraction systems, built around intelligent dust separation elements that leverage the principles of flow dynamics, allowing for immediate reuse of recovered raw materials.

Sources:

1. www.ga.gov.au/aimr2025/world-rankings ↩︎
2. multiples.vc/largest-metals-mining-public-comps-in-australia ↩︎
3. www.asbestossafety.gov.au/…/silica-national-strategic-plan-2024-30 ↩︎
4. www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/…/workplace-exposure-limits-amended-november_2025.pdf ↩︎
5. www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/…/whs-duties-silica ↩︎
6. www.comcare.gov.au/safe-healthy-work/dust-conditions/silica ↩︎
7. www.comcare.gov.au/safe-healthy-work/dust-conditions/silica ↩︎
8. www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/dust-containing-crystalline-silica-extractive-industry ↩︎
9. www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/dust-containing-crystalline-silica-extractive-industry ↩︎
10. www.mindat.org/min-3337.html ↩︎
11. www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/…/assessment…template.pdf ↩︎
12. www.comcare.gov.au/safe-healthy-work/dust-conditions/silica ↩︎
13. www.safework.sa.gov.au/…/silica ↩︎
14. www.safework.sa.gov.au/…/silica ↩︎
15. microanalysis.com.au/…/size-makes-poison/ ↩︎
16. www.safework.sa.gov.au/…/silica ↩︎
17. www.safework.sa.gov.au/…/fit-testing-and-fit-checking-of-rpe ↩︎