Heavy engineering done locally: Northtech SLE’s role
Northtech SLE (Northtech) was founded in 2010 as Northtech Solutions by Steve Pope and his wife, Donna McRae with a focus on delivering reliable engineering and maintenance services in the Northern Territory. By 2015 the business had expanded its local workforce to 15 to support its expanding client base. That same year, Northtech was recognised as Telstra Northern Territory Small Business of the Year. In 2023, the company acquired SLE Engineering, a Darwin-based business with a 35-year history and a significantly larger workshop, to become Northtech SLE. Today, Northtech has grown to a team of approximately 50 employees and now services all major Northern Territory mining operations, as well as servicing, oil and gas, marine, government and heavy industry clients in the Territory.
Northtech operates from a 2,300m² workshop with a 4,000m² laydown area in Pinelands. The workshop operates a wide range of plant and equipment and is equipped with overhead gantry cranes ranging from 5t to 20t with full floor coverage, along with cast in load testing pads. Machines include a Titan SC 22 27 vertical borer, the biggest in northern Australia, the largest of its kind in Northern Australia. The machine has a 12t table capacity and can machine components up to 2.6m in diameter, with foundations cast 4m into the ground. Northtech also has a horizontal borer with 1.4m x 1.6m x 1.2m X, Y and Z travel and a 3t table capacity, a heavy duty brake press rated to 300t x 4,000mm, a medium duty brake press rated to 180t x 4,000mm, and lathes capable of machining components up to 1.6m in diameter and 6m between centres.
Beyond this, Northtech’s capabilities cover a broad range of fabrication, machining and metal processing. Additional workshop facilities support MIG, TIG and submerged arc welding, plasma cutting, band and cold saw cutting, drilling, shearing, plate rolling, pipe bending and sheet metal folding. Specialist services include portable line boring and facing, balancing and condition diagnostics, and roll grooving. Northtech’s workshop also has a climate controlled clean room for precision mechanical assembly, including bearings, couplings and similar equipment.
On site, Northtech provides shutdown and maintenance support across all operating mines in the Northern Territory, including Newmont, GEMCO and McArthur River Mine, for both planned outages and unplanned maintenance.
Over the past two years, Northtech has supported Subsea 7 and Allseas on the Barossa Project, delivering fabrication, machining, load testing and sea fastening works for construction vessels operating out of Darwin Port. Works for Subsea 7 were delivered across 11 vessels and involved more than 50 mobilisations and almost 20,000 man hours, completed incident free and on time. In addition to servicing GEMCO at Groote Eylandt for both operational and shutdown requirements, Northtech was contracted for repairs on the export wharf. This included structural upgrades, remediation and surface treatment of the wharf, and the installation of five new capstans.
Northtech SLE pride themselves on being local and on building their local workforce capability to deliver complex work locally and provide clear benefits for the Territory. Keeping fabrication, machining and assembly in the Northern Territory helps strengthen local industry capability, build workforce skills, and reduce project risk by minimising freight requirements, weather related delays and logistical challenges.
Northtech's Operations Manager, Ross Hunt, says the company’s continued investment is guided by a clear purpose: “We are committed to proving that the NT has the capability to deliver highly complex engineering work. By investing in equipment, systems and our people, we can support major projects while creating long-term value for the Territory.”
Northtech is keen to hear from proponents and local business on how they can help with their projects and the team is happy to arrange site visits and walk throughs of their workshop.
Learn more about Northtech here.
Email: admin@northtechsle.com.au