History

Alluvial Dredges had its origins in the Scottish firm of Lobnitz & Co. The Dane, Henry Lobnitz, came to Britain to work as an engineer, initially at Greenwich and then later on the Clyde where he joined the staff of James Henderson & Son at their Renfrew West Yard in 1857. He was steadily promoted and eventually became a partner in the firm which became known as Lobnitz, Coulborn & Company and later Lobnitz & Company Ltd. The shipyard specialised in the design and construction of dredgers, in particular those with rock breaking and cutting capabilities.

Lobnitz & Company and Simons-Lobnitz Limited through Alluvial Dredges Ltd were the World’s forerunners in the design and construction of mineral dredges and equipment. For example, the first gold dredge in Ghana, the first gold dredge in British Guiana and the first tin dredge in Thailand.

In 1935, Lobnitz formed Alluvial Dredges Limited specifically to design dredges for the recovery of alluvial minerals. Working as a part of Lobnitz, and then latterly with Simons-Lobnitz when the company merged with the adjacent shipbuilder, William Simons, the company continued to specialise in the design of mineral recovery dredgers. This gave Alluvial Dredges a cumulative history of dredge design and construction dating back some 150 years.

In 1970 Alluvial Dredges was granted an exclusive franchise to carry on the international alluvial dredge mining design and manufacturing business for the former Simons-Lobnitz. This involved the transfer of the Simons-Lobnitz design team specialising in international mineral dredging to Alluvial Dredges together with associated records dating back to the formative years. The company in its present form is considered to be, and is accepted as, the successor of Simons-Lobnitz in all matters concerning alluvial dredging and has continued to successfully undertake design, supply and consultancy contracts worldwide with recent designs of alluvial mining dredges operating in Australia and Senegal.