Industry · 03

Civil & Tunnelling
wear recovery.

TBM discs and picks, road-header tooling, rock anchors and ground-engaging wear. The carbide comes off the steel and gets paid for separately instead of leaving site as mixed heavy scrap.

Carbide recovered from wear partsSite collectionPickup across WA
Where the value hides

The steel is the cheap part
of a worn cutter.

A used TBM disc or road-header pick is mostly carbon steel by weight and mostly carbide by value. Sold whole into a general yard it prices as heavy scrap. We strip and recover the carbide fraction, assay it for tungsten and cobalt, and settle the two components separately – which is usually the difference between a token cheque and a number worth budgeting for.

Civil · WA-wide
What we accept

Civil wear we buy
and a few we don't.

  • TBM cutter discs

    Worn disc cutters and disc rings off the cutterhead, carbide-faced or plain.

  • Road-header picks

    Road-header and continuous miner picks, conical picks and pick boxes.

  • Carbide-tipped bits

    Carbide-tipped drill bits and button bits from face and anchor drilling.

  • Rock anchors & dowels

    Rock anchors, dowels, threadbar and ground support offcuts.

  • Ground-engaging tools

    Ground-engaging tools, wear plate and hardfaced excavation wear.

  • Mixed wear-part bins

    Mixed wear-part bins straight off the portal - we separate carbide from steel.

Our Process

How It Works

From the moment a bin leaves the portal, laydown or workshop, every step is built around getting the carbide off the steel and paid for on its own assay.

Materials Received

Photos and counts in, indicative rate back in four hours. Bins dropped to the portal, laydown or workshop.

4H · Indicative quote
Strip & Sort

Carbide inserts and tips separated from the steel body, then XRF assayed for tungsten and cobalt content.

100% · Carbide recovered
Weigh & Log

Carbide fraction and steel body weighed as separate lines, photographed and ticketed against your reference.

60T · NMI-certified
Payment Sent

EFT within 48 hours of you signing the assay, with the carbide and steel split shown separately.

48H · EFT after sign-off
4 hours
to an indicative rate

Send photos and a rough count of discs, picks or anchors and you get an indicative rate back the same shift. Bins go out to the portal, laydown or workshop and every load is booked in against your own reference.

  • Indicative rate inside four hours
  • Bins to the portal or laydown
  • Booked in under your reference
100%
of wear parts stripped

A worn cutter is two materials with an order of magnitude between their rates. Every wear part is stripped so the carbide fraction is weighed and assayed on its own instead of riding out at the steel price.

  • Carbide separated from the steel body
  • XRF for tungsten and cobalt content
  • Steel body priced as its own line
60T
NMI-certified weighbridge

Each fraction crosses the weighbridge as its own line rather than as one consignment weight, so the split is visible on the ticket before you sign anything.

  • Third-party calibration certificates on file
  • Itemised weight and assay reports
  • Photographed and ticketed before sort
48 hours
from sign-off to EFT

Once the assay is signed, payment goes out by EFT within two business days. The traceability PDF lands with the funds - weighbridge tickets, carbide and steel split, downstream destination.

  • EFT, no chasing invoices
  • Carbide and steel shown separately
  • Downstream destination disclosed
Related industries

Tunnel adjacent. Same yard.

Why work with us

Why work with Drill Bits Recyclers.

A pallet of worn picks or a full TBM cutterhead change-out – the commitments are the same.

Weighed
Every load
NMI-certified 60t weighbridge. Photographed and ticketed before sort.
Stripped
Every wear part
Carbide separated from the steel body and priced on its own assay.
Paid fast
48 hours
EFT within two business days of you signing the assay.
Audited
Every job
One signed PDF per consignment - weights, assay, downstream destination.
ESG & responsible sourcing

Cutter wear that counts on your report.

Cutter carbide is tungsten, and tungsten sits on every critical-mineral list there is. Every kilogram we strip off a spent disc or pick stays in the Australian supply chain instead of leaving site inside a skip of heavy scrap.

~80%
Less embedded CO₂
Secondary tungsten emits roughly 2 t CO₂e per tonne W - against ~12.5 t for primary mining and concentration.
vs. virgin tungsten extraction
1 hop
From the portal to smelter
Direct downstream offtake to a certified tungsten smelter - no broker chain, no offshore re-handling, no traceability gap.
Downstream destination on every PDF
100%
WA-sourced & traceable
Every kilo we handle is stripped from Australian end-of-life tooling. No conflict-mineral exposure on the carbide fraction, no gap in your due-diligence chain.
OECD Due Diligence aligned
Embedded CO₂e per tonne tungsten
Cradle-to-gate, indicative ranges from secondary & primary tungsten LCA studies.
Primary tungsten mining, concentration, smelting
~12.5 t CO₂e
Recycled tungsten strip, sort, smelter feed
~2 t CO₂e

Numbers vary by ore grade and smelter route – cite your own LCA in formal reports. We provide tonnages and downstream destination on every traceability PDF.

Aligned with
NGERNational Greenhouse & Energy Reporting
GRIGlobal Reporting Initiative 306: Waste
ISOISO 14001 Environmental Management
3TGOECD Conflict Minerals Due Diligence
Stop selling cutters as heavy scrap

Get paid for the carbide you
actually wore out.

Carbide stripped off the steel, assayed on its own, and settled as two lines. We collect from the portal or the laydown.

Carbide stripped and assayed • Split settlement • Paid in 48 hours