Processes

The overall process has taken many years to develop. The complexity lies in the harvesting of the trees and the widely dispersed mallee plantings.

Mature trees are harvested from an existing pool of trees. After two to three years they will re-grow and are able to be harvested again. To increase our supply of trees we plant new trees which after four years, are ready for harvesting.

When they are not being harvested, these trees are providing other environmental benefits such as:

• Shelterbelts giving wind and sun protection for livestock and soils
• Providing habitat for native insects, fungi, flora and fauna.
• Protecting valley floors from rising salinity.

The custom built harvester collects the foliage with minimum impact on the trees. Harvesting re-grown trees has the added advantage of there generally being a greater ratio of leaves to wood, equating to higher oil yields.

The leaves are steam distilled powered by burning waste leaf from previous extractions. The water used for steaming and cooling is continually recycled through the production process.

Finally, the extracted oil is packaged and distributed while the trees grow naturally.