Mining & industrial solutions
Yellow metal standing idle is capital standing still.
NSB Auctions disposes of heavy plant, mining equipment, processing plant and industrial machinery for mines, contractors, plant operators and the insolvency practitioners winding up industrial estates.
The problem on the ground
The machine stopped earning. The costs did not stop.
A shift in the mine plan, a contract that ended, a fleet that aged out, a section placed under care and maintenance. Whatever the trigger, the result looks the same in the yard: rows of plant that no longer produce, and a balance sheet still carrying them.
Idle plant is not neutral. Tyres flat-spot, seals dry out, hydraulics weep, batteries die and rust starts where the paint was already thin. Every month standing costs you something before you have realised a cent.
Meanwhile the replacement cycle still has to be funded. Capital committed to machines you no longer run is capital not available for the ones you do. Disposal is not housekeeping. It is a funding decision.
What idle plant costs you
- Carrying cost. Assets on the register that produce nothing and still consume depreciation and insurance.
- Maintenance drag. Standing machines still need attention, or they deteriorate faster than working ones.
- Security exposure. Unattended plant, batteries, cabling and non-ferrous components attract theft and vandalism.
- Yard and laydown space. Ground occupied by redundant plant is ground unavailable to the operation.
- Condition decay. The longer it stands, the further the realistic market value falls away from book.
- Deferred replacement. Capital tied up in old iron is capital not funding the new fleet.
Asset classes we handle
From a single excavator to an entire plant.
Mining and industrial disposals rarely arrive as one clean category. A typical mandate mixes mobile plant, fixed processing equipment, power generation, workshop assets and the steel left behind. We catalogue and sell all of it.
Earthmoving & yellow metal
Excavators tracked and wheeled, bulldozers and track-type tractors, graders, rollers and compaction equipment. Sold as complete machines with attachments listed on the lot.
Haulage & mine support fleet
Rigid and articulated haul trucks, mine support vehicles and personnel carriers, tankers, bowsers and fuel handling equipment. Hours and service history recorded per unit.
Loaders & materials handling
Front-end loaders, backhoe loaders, telehandlers and forklifts. Buckets, forks and ancillaries catalogued with the machine they belong to.
Drilling, processing & industrial machinery
Drill rigs, crushing and screening plant, washing equipment, conveyors, feeders and stackers, production machinery, boilers, panels and switchgear. Complete lines sold on closure or relocation.
Workshop, power & site services
Lathes, presses, welders, lifting equipment and tooling, alongside generator sets, air compressors, pumps, dewatering equipment and lighting towers.
Containerised units, steel & scrap
Containerised offices, workshops and stores, structural steel, gantries, piping, ducting and cable racking. Spares holdings, ferrous and non-ferrous scrap and site clearance lots.
Photography shown is illustrative stock imagery, standing in until NSB Auctions supplies its own plant and auction photography.
Specialist cataloguing
Heavy plant does not sell off a photograph and a model number.
A buyer bidding on a twenty tonne excavator is pricing risk. How hard was it worked, what is left in the undercarriage, when was the last major service, and is the machine the one the paperwork says it is.
A generic listing forces that buyer to assume the worst and bid accordingly. A properly built catalogue removes the guesswork, and the bid moves up to meet the evidence. Every machine is assessed and recorded on its own merits, then presented so a buyer three provinces away can bid with the same confidence as one standing in the yard.
What we record on heavy plant
- Machine hours or kilometres, read and recorded, not estimated
- Make, model, year and serial or chassis numbers, verified against the asset
- Service history and documentation where the client holds it
- Condition reporting on the wear items that drive price
- Attachments, buckets, spares and ancillaries listed with the lot
- Detailed photography of the machine as it actually stands
- Runner or non-runner status stated plainly, no ambiguity
Serial verification matters beyond price. On mining and industrial fleets it is often the difference between a clean transfer and a dispute after the hammer falls.
Auction formats
On-site or online, chosen for the asset, not for our convenience.
NSB Auctions runs live, online, timed-online and on-site auctions. On heavy plant the format decision is a commercial one, because moving the asset before the sale can cost more than the format saves.
On-site auctions
The plant is sold where it stands. Nothing is low-bedded, craned or de-installed before a buyer is found, which removes a cost that would otherwise come off the proceeds.
Suited to: tracked and oversize machines, fixed crushing and screening plant, conveyor installations, complete production lines, workshop and yard clearances, and any disposal where the asset is expensive or impractical to move twice.
The buyer benefit: serious buyers inspect the machine on the ground, start it, walk the undercarriage and see the installation in place. Inspected iron attracts stronger bidding than photographed iron.
Online and timed-online auctions
The catalogue goes to the full buyer database rather than only to those able to travel. Bidding runs to a published close, with the same lot information and the same rules for every bidder.
Suited to: mobile plant, support vehicles, generators, compressors, workshop equipment, spares holdings and surplus stock. Anything transportable, where the buyer pool is national rather than local.
The client benefit: reach. A machine competed for by buyers in four provinces prices differently to one competed for by the three contractors within driving distance.
Many mining and industrial mandates run as a hybrid. Fixed plant and oversize machines sell on-site on the day, while the transportable balance runs timed-online to widen the buyer pool. The format is set per lot group during the valuation stage, before anything is marketed.
Logistics, load-out and de-installation
The sale is not finished until the machine has left the site.
On heavy plant, load-out is where a well-run auction can still come apart. Access, lifting, permits, site induction and the sequence in which lots are removed all have to be agreed before the first buyer arrives with a low-bed.
Site and access assessment
Ground conditions, access routes, gate and weighbridge constraints, and which lots need lifting or dismantling before they can move. Assessed during cataloguing, not on collection day.
Load-out terms published upfront
Collection window, site rules, induction requirements, proof of payment and release process, all stated in the auction terms so buyers price the cost of removal into their bid.
Coordinated removal
A managed collection sequence with release against verified settlement, so lots leave in an order that does not block the site or the remaining plant.
Site handed back clear
Documented release of every lot, with the yard or plant area returned in the condition agreed in the mandate.
The NSB methodology
Four stages, applied to plant.
The same accountable process runs on every mandate. Here is what each stage looks like when the asset is a fleet of machines rather than a floor of office furniture.
Valuation & cataloguing
Every machine assessed on site. Hours, serials, condition, attachments and runner status recorded, then catalogued to establish a defensible reserve before anything goes to market.
Marketing & reach
Targeted campaigns into our verified buyer database, digital platforms and industry network, aimed at the contractors, plant dealers, exporters and operators who buy this class of asset.
Auction execution
On-site, live, online or timed-online, selected per lot group. Competitive bidding under published rules, with a full bid history behind every hammer price.
Secure settlement
Rapid, transparent and fully reconciled settlement, with a lot by lot disposal report your finance team, your auditors and, on an insolvent estate, the appointed practitioner can all work from.
For mines, contractors and plant operators
Disposal that clears the yard, funds the replacement cycle and produces documentation your internal governance and your auditors will accept without a second request.
For liquidators and insolvency practitioners
Court-compliant disposal of industrial estates, with FICA verification on transacting bidders, a complete audit trail from instruction to settlement, and reconciliation against realised proceeds.
Compliance & governance
Defensible, lot by lot.
Industrial disposals get examined. By an internal audit committee, by an external auditor, by a creditors' meeting, or by a head office asking why a machine that cost several million realised what it realised.
NSB Auctions maintains strict administrative and governance standards. Every disposal produces comprehensive reporting, FICA compliance on transacting bidders, complete audit trails and financial reconciliation, aligned to Auditor-General requirements and corporate governance best practice.
What you receive on every mandate
- Comprehensive disposal report, lot by lot
- Catalogue record of condition, hours and serials as sold
- FICA verification records for transacting bidders
- Complete audit trail from instruction to settlement
- Financial reconciliation against realised proceeds
- Documentation aligned to Auditor-General requirements
Tell us what is standing in the yard.
Send us the plant list, or the site address and a rough scope. We will come back with a valuation view, the right auction format for each lot group, and a realistic timeline to settlement.