Reimagining possibilities

An unshakable belief in the potential of garnet brought our founders together, who went on to change industries forever.

Over 40 years ago, a rich garnet deposit was discovered near the coastal town of Port Gregory in Western Australia. There was no known use for the mineral or interest in its potential. Yet a visionary few became captivated by the tiny red grains’ remarkable properties.

"Back in those days there was a little bit of ilmenite, zircon and rutile, but Garnet was the dominant mineral, and in 1975 we acquired another deposit nearby. That proved to be really very rich in Garnet, exceptionally high grade.

"So there we had a big resource of a mineral that no one wanted," said GMA's Former Group Technical Manager, Martin Taylor.

Our founding team knew garnet abrasives would redefine sandblasting performance while minimising costs to business and community. The trouble was the magic mineral was unheard of. Minds and habits needed changing. It would take years of perseverance to pay off — but quality prevailed.

"You know, you can have the best product in the world, but you need to convince customers to change from what they have been doing for such a long time," said GMA Founder and former CEO, Torsten Ketelsen.

"Once customers began realising the many benefits and advantages that the GMA product was giving them in the operation and in the operation in terms of cost saving, much higher efficiency and also health and safety aspects, they would firmly stay behind the product."

Today, GMA Garnet™ continues to solve complex problems in unexpected ways. Our garnet restores the architectural beauty of some of the world’s most historic landmarks, and creates new and iconic structures for our most progressive visionaries. It moves projects and industries forward. All this is the work of one mineral.

Much has changed since GMA’s humble beginnings, yet we remain focused on a single goal: to maximise our customers’ performance. Looking ahead, we will continue to lead the way in the spirit of our founders — because garnet can redefine possibilities for us all.