Buying and grading service

Metal recycling in WA,
graded by stream at Malaga.

Drill Bits Recyclers buys worn tungsten carbide, drill bits, drill rods, carbide inserts, high-speed steel, nickel alloys and stainless from businesses across Western Australia. Each load is separated into its material stream at the Malaga yard, then graded, weighed and paid by EFT.

Malaga yard at 2/89 Pavers CircleWeighed and graded at the depot, stream by streamWeight and recovery record with each load
Why grade by stream

The number depends on
what is actually in the bin.

A mixed bin gets a mixed rate. When carbide inserts, HSS drills and steel shanks all go over the scale as one lot, the payment reflects the lowest-value metal in it. Drill Bits Recyclers grades each stream on its own, so the tungsten carbide, the drill bits and the nickel alloys are each priced on what they are.

Loads reach the Malaga yard from Perth workshops and regional mine sites, in one of our bins or on your own truck by appointment. The team logs the load, separates it by material and pulls out anything that needs a closer look.

What sets the figure is the grade, the level of contamination and attached steel, the tonnage, and the current market price for that material at the time. There is no flat published rate because those inputs change with every load. Excess dirt, wood, plastic and non-complying steel are weighed and deducted from the gross, and you are paid on the remainder. Send photos and a rough weight and we will quote the load.

Drill Bits Recyclers collection bin loaded with worn drill bits sitting on the depot scale
Material streams

What we buy,
stream by stream.

Tungsten carbide

Buttons, shanks, blanks, dies and wear parts, graded as carbide rather than as steel.

Tungsten carbide

Drill bits

RC, DTH, PDC and tricone bits from the pit, sorted by type on arrival.

Drill bits

Drill rods

Rod strings, subs and couplings, taken as their own stream apart from the bits.

Drill rods

Carbide inserts

Turning and milling inserts, coated or plain, kept clear of the HSS.

Carbide inserts

High-speed steel

Twist drills, end mills, taps and reamers, separated from the carbide before weighing.

High-speed steel

GET and wear parts

Ground engaging tools and carbide wear parts, weighed once the attached steel is accounted for.

At the yard

What happens to a load
once it reaches Malaga.

Whether it arrives in one of our bins or on your own truck, every load goes through the same sequence at the yard.

The load is booked in and given a reference

Your load is logged against your job with a reference number before any sorting starts.

Step 1
Sorted into material streams

Carbide, HSS, drill bits, rods and alloys are separated, and attached steel and contamination are set aside.

Step 2
Identified where the grade is in doubt

Material that cannot be graded by eye gets a closer check before it goes over the scale.

Step 3
Weighed and graded by stream

Each stream goes over the depot scale on its own, with non-payable material deducted from the gross.

Step 4
Paid by EFT

Once the final weight and grading are confirmed, payment goes out by EFT. Around 80% of settlement-ready loads are paid the same day; material that needs more processing takes longer.

Step 5
01
The load is booked in and given a reference
02
Sorted into material streams
03
Identified where the grade is in doubt
04
Weighed and graded by stream
05
Paid by EFT
Who sells to us

Mining, drilling, workshops
and manufacturers.

Mining operations

Worn bits, GET and wear parts off the pit, as a regular bin or a shutdown clear-out.

Drilling contractors

Rod strings, DTH and RC bits, subs and adaptors coming back from a program.

Engineering workshops

Spent inserts, end mills, taps, dies and HSS off the machine shop floor.

Manufacturers

Production tooling, offcuts and carbide blanks, kept as their own streams.

Our commitments

How we handle
every load we buy.

The same handling applies whether the load is a bucket of inserts or a shutdown’s worth of drill bits.

01
Graded by stream
Each material is assessed and weighed on its own, so the carbide is paid as carbide.
02
Priced on the load
The quote reflects grade, contamination, tonnage and the market reference at the time, and states its own expiry.
03
Deductions by weight
Excess dirt, wood, plastic and non-complying steel are weighed and taken off the gross, with payment on the remainder.
04
Documented every time
Weight and recovery documentation is issued on every collection, ready for your own reporting.
Recovery on record

Three figures
we can stand behind.

1.3M+ kg
Recycled since 2022
Drill Bits Recyclers' own running total of material bought, graded and recycled since 2022.
22 to 100%
Impact reduction range (Furberg et al. 2019)
What peer-reviewed research found for recycling hard metal, varying by the impact category measured. No figure is claimed for our own yard.
Every load
Documented
Weight and recovery documentation goes out with every collection, whatever its size.
The published range for hard-metal recycling
Furberg, Arvidsson and Molander, Journal of Cleaner Production 209 (2019): the reduction depends on the impact category studied.
Lowest category Furberg et al. (2019)
22%
Highest category Same study, different impact category
100%

The low and high ends come from the same study and depend on which impact category is measured. Drill Bits Recyclers does not claim a reduction figure for its own yard.

What is on the record for every load
RefJob reference logged on arrival
NetWeight per stream after deductions
DocRecovery documentation issued
StudyFurberg et al. (2019), 22 to 100%
Get a quote

Send photos.
We'll grade the load.

Photos, the location and a rough weight are enough for a quote. Bins go out to Perth and regional WA, or bring it to Malaga by appointment.