In the almost five years since it was acquired by Danish industrial giant FLSmidth & Co. A/S, FLSmidth Spokane Inc. has seen its sales increase exponentially. The company expects to see that growth continue as the global mining market remains stable, says company President and CEO Darrell White.

The engineering concern, which designs and sells large-scale material handling systems for the mining, aggregate, canal construction, and salt harvesting industries, among others, currently is working on several long-term project contracts, each valued into the hundreds of millions of dollars, White says.

He declines to disclose those contracts' actual values or the Spokane company's annual sales figures, but says it has seen its revenue grow fivefold over the last five years since being acquired by its Danish parent.

"Market conditions are good for us," White says. "We are fortunate to have a lot of work even when there was the downturn that many companies still are suffering through. Mining on the global basis has been strong ... so fortunately for us we have been able to grow during the downturn."

FLSmidth Spokane is located in 30,000 square feet of office space at 605 E. Holland, on Spokane's North Side. The company's Spokane operations are referred to as the RAHCO Technology Center and include its sales, engineering, product management, finance and administration, procurement and logistics, and aftermarket customer service departments, White says.

Those operations formerly had been part of longtime Spokane concern RAHCO International Inc., and were acquired for $19.5 million in the spring of 2007 by Copenhagen, Denmark-based FLSmidth, which has more than 40 offices worldwide and employs more than 12,000 people.

The former RAHCO's manufacturing and fabrication operations, located at 2425 E. Magnesium, also continue to be based here but since have changed hands twice and now are owned by TFC International LLC. That venture purchased the manufacturing-and-fabrication assets last March, and some components of FLSmidth Spokane's equipment still are made there, White says.

The Spokane RAHCO Technology Center is part of FLSmidth's international group of material handling companies, which also has a presence in Boise, Idaho, and in Germany, White says. Those companies are under the umbrella of FLSmidth's minerals division, which is headquartered in Bethlehem, Penn., and employs about 3,000 people worldwide.

Since being bought by its international parent company, the RAHCO Technology Center's employee count here has increased to 135 workers, up from 75 people who were based with the engineering and sales side of RAHCO International at the time of the acquisition, White says.

"Certainly being part of a larger organization that has a lot of strength financially and a global footprint has allowed us to expand and grow," he says. "FLSmidth has a strategic plan around growing the mining aspect of the business, which we are a part of."

Since the 2007 acquisition, White says the company's offices here also continually have been developing and improving the technology of its materials handling equipment, but because much of that information is proprietary, he says he can't disclose specific details.

"Our focus is to drive the cost down; we are developing equipment that reduces costs of mining in whatever aspect we're working in," White says. "That comes about by reducing labor and the use of petroleum-based machines, which contributes to a better environment and reduces emissions and the carbon footprint."

He adds, "Some of the new technology facilitates using less water. Some mining operations have a scarce water supply, and that can be expensive."

The large majority of FLSmidth Spokane's work associated with the mining sector is for open-pit mining operations. The company designs and contracts out the construction of mobile and fixed-base conveyor systems, mine tailings handling systems, radial stackers, excavators, and other specialized equipment designed to handle large quantities of materials.

White says some of those conveyor systems range between three and four miles long and can move up to 12,000 tons of material per hour.

While the company's equipment had been manufactured in Spokane before RAHCO International's material-handling assets were bought by FLSmidth, White says the company's products now are assembled all over the world.

"As we have grown and our footprint is more global; it doesn't facilitate the need to have a shop," he says. "Work is all around the world, and with the cost of materials and freight, it's better business to source locally. We still manage and oversee the fabrication, but instead of doing it all here, we do it in China, India, South America, and Africa—wherever it makes business sense to do it."

One big project the RAHCO Technology Center currently is working on in Australia involves designing a conveyor system to dispose of mine tailings, he says. Work on that project started about a year ago, he says, and will continue through the end of this year.

FLSmidth's Spokane office also is working on a project at a coal mine in Indonesia that's valued at around $150 million, White says.

He contends that project is "leading the industry in its application with what we're doing and the system we're providing."

FLSmidth's Boise office also is involved in that effort, he says.

White says the RAHCO Technology Center also is working on a sizable ongoing project for the Arab Potash Co., in Jordan, to design and supply massive harvesters used to collect potash, a mineral used to make fertilizers.

He says FLSmidth Spokane has been working with Arab Potash Co. for more than 30 years, and this current contract is to supply the company with its ninth and 10th harvesters.

Those machines are massive in size and are designed to float on the water, but are propelled by four submerged tracks that act as feet to move the barge-like harvester through shallow ponds of water. Those ponds contain saltwater pumped from the Dead Sea, and the harvester collects the mineral material that's settled onto the bottom of the ponds.

For a mine in Africa, FLSmidth Spokane is engineering and supplying a mobile conveyor system that places mined ores into a specialized containment area, called a leach pad, so the ore can be sprayed with chemicals that then separate the mineral and ore, White says.

With such large projects, FLSmidth Spokane often will become involved with a client several years before even submitting a contract proposal through a competitive bidding process.

"We work on some projects for a long time before we actually get a contract," White says. "It could be a mining company with a new project, so they have to do investigatory work to determine if it's feasible, and also the cost to develop. We start early-on to provide them information so they can determine if they want to turn something into a project, and then we may do a bidding process to secure that work."

He adds, "That sometimes can be a risky endeavor, so we have to be selective."

He says the global mining industry is showing a positive outlook for the coming years and that in turn could generate new job contracts for FLSmidth Spokane.

"The prognosis is that the market looks favorable going forward for several years, but that can change quickly so we are hoping that things continue to be strong," he says. "Raw materials are needed for growth in the power and energy sectors. Coal is strong—that is a part of business that is key—and (so are) iron ores, copper, gold, and fertilizers. All of those things are needed for global growth."

In looking toward the company's future anticipated growth here, White says one challenge it faces is recruiting qualified new employees.

He says the company currently has several open positions associated with the engineering of its equipment. FLSmidth Spokane employs engineers from all disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, civil, structural, mining, agricultural, hydraulic, welding, and manufacturing.

"It's not always easy for us to find the technical competencies that we need here," he says. "Many students at universities might have grown up here and believe they don't want to stay here because they don't think there are opportunities, but we are a growing company and there are opportunities for technical-based professionals."

He adds that FLSmidth Spokane heavily recruits engineering students at Gonzaga University, as well as at the University of Idaho and Washington State University.