New pink truck heading to Roy Hill’s Pilbara mine site, built in Bunbury

A new pink truck will be heading to Roy Hill’s Pilbara mine site, and it’s one that’s raised $150,000 for breast cancer care and research.

Inspired by Roy Hill executive chairman and director Gina Rinehart’s passion for supporting the pink cause, the 160T low loader Pink Panther was designed and built in Bunbury at the Piacentini & Son workshop.

The bright new addition will arrive by the end of the month and will be used to transport machinery around the site — with an impressive turning circle demonstrated at an unveiling at the workshop on Friday morning.

Roy Hill chief operating officer Dale Harris said the Pink Panther would be put to “very good use” on their north west site — and hold a special place alongside their other pink machinery.

“Last financial year alone Roy Hill put more than $1.6 billion into the WA economy through the purchase of goods and services, that’s in addition to billions in wages, royalties, taxes and license fees. We’re committed to providing opportunities for businesses in the State, and are delighted to take delivery of the Panther, which has been developed on time and budget, to further enhance our operational efficiencies,” Mr Harris said.

“The team at Piacentini & Son have been outstanding and demonstrated a shared commitment to assisting women and families impacted by the scourge of breast cancer.

“Their offer to paint the low loader pink at no additional cost and then undertake a highly successful fundraising program highlights an enduring connection to the local south-west community, a region Roy Hill is also pleased to invest in and has, assuming approvals are achieved, exciting plans for the future.”

Piacentini & Son executive director Kim Piacentini said it had been “humbling” to see staff and suppliers get behind the fundraising opportunity the truck presented.

“We’ve all achieved so much by everyone giving a little,” he said.

“Roy Hill and Hancock Prospecting have done so much for the charities and communities, and we’re so proud to be able to carry on and give a little bit back.

“The Roy Hill culture is very similar to ours here at Piacentini and we align well.”

Mr Piacentini said the machine was the 18th panther the team had created, after designing it with the weakness of traditional loaders in mind.

“We had a requirement back in 2017 where we needed at 360 tonne low loader for one of our contract mining jobs so we went to the market to see what we would buy to service that project and we couldn’t find what we wanted,” he said.

“So we went back to first principles and designed what we needed with three key design criteria: safety, productivity and reliable.

“These features were front and centre and a panther was born.”