Our Vision
A sizable export earning business unique to New Zealand’s Far North that brings strong environmental and community values to a profitable long term new industry. We create high quality jobs, directly for ResWax and indirectly in the wider community for suppliers, contractors and service providers. Our vision includes deepening in our collaboration with Far North iwi in service of their work continuing to build environmentally and economically attractive local opportunities under their own initiative and control.
R&D Background
ResWax has worked with US technology suppliers to find the optimal and economic processes to extract wax and resin. In multiple tests we have proven the technology to derive extracts from the fallen Kauri based resource in commercially operating extraction plants in the US and UK.
In parallel with this we have developed the refining technology that allows us to derive high value waxes and resins from the extracts. We have matched this with building our understanding of the resource, community and environment: devising a closed loop process that discharges nothing to the land except to reinstate post extraction resource back into the farm paddocks from which the resource has been processed.
Meanwhile we have also confirmed market demand and tuned aspects of our product mix through working with specialist channel partners, Koster Keunen and de Monchy.
Pilot Plant and Customers
In 2017, ResWax established its own pilot plant in Kaitaia, managed by its own people. The purpose of this plant has been to fine-tune the extraction and refining processing as well as produce sample product for testing by our distributors and a small number of end-users in NZ, US and Europe.
Development Plant
In late 2022 we raised a significant amount of capital. This has been applied to procuring long lead time items for our large scale Commercial Plant extraction and desolventising stages, and, importantly some $10 million applied to the design, build and operation of our Development Plant. This plant was completed in late 2024 and replicates all the processes and stages of the Commercial Plant process using analogous and scalable plant and methods and, itself, capable of producing several tonnes of natural specialty resins and waxes a month.
This plant is essentially a large scale extension of applied R&D allowing us to remove technical risk from our Commercial Plant design and operations, confirm we are achieving the highest standards of envirnomental care and sustainability, and take another step developing the employment and sklills in the local community.
Commercial Plant
Meanwhile design and project development work is underway for our Commercail Plant. This will be commissioned in 2026 and produce hundreds of tonnes of high value resins and waxes a month.
Expanded Plant
ResWax follows a phased development approach, managing cashflow and technical risk while ensuring appropriate market development. Our business plan, resource consenting and feedstock planning extend to an Expanded Plant that produces multiples of the Commercial Plant product. This will be designed and built over the period 2027-2028.
RESWAX 