It is the first of several moves the company expects to make as it expands its mining tyre management service offerings in Eastern Australia.

Darren Flint, managing director at Kal Tire Australia, said: “Kal Tire has been supporting the Western Australian mining industry for many years, and we were keen to bring more of our services to customers on the east coast.”

He also noted that plans are underway to continue expanding in the region, and added: “We’re very excited to now be able to offer mining tyre repair services in New South Wales.”

Located in Muswellbrook within the Hunter Valley coalfields, the Kal Tire facility will continue to repair mining tyres that were serviced there when it was formerly operated by Goodyear. The facility, which officially opened on April 1, spans nearly 10,000m²: 8,000m² of hardstand, 1,500m² of workshop space, and the remaining area for office space and a carpark. Technicians can have up to eight tyre stands in operation at any time, with the capacity to handle an extensive volume of mining tyres and the capability to repair all mining tyre sizes - up to 63in (1.6m).

Flint said: “This facility allows us to bring to New South Wales the same unique approach to tyre management our customers enjoy in Eastern Australia and around the world. We believe in solutions that offer significant, measurable value at every stage in the mining tyre life-cycle, and this is just the beginning of our plans to bring a full suite of services to the east coast.”

Kal Tire’s Ultra Repair technology for ultra-class tyres will be introduced into this facility towards the end of 2016. The Ultra Repair process involves replacing steel belts inside ultra-class tyres, offering an excellent ability to restore the original strength, integrity and performance of damaged ultra-class tyres at a fraction of the cost of new tyres.