Hardide, the provider of unique surface engineering technology, announces that it has been granted a patent for a new tungsten carbide adhesive and protective coating for industrial diamond crystals.

Hardide, the provider of unique surface engineering technology, is pleased to announce that it has been granted the US patent for a new tungsten carbide adhesive and protective coating for industrial diamond crystals. This development opens up a global multi-million dollar market for Hardide in diamond tools for the oil and gas, mining and construction industries. The non-porous Hardide coating offers an unprecedented combination of adhesive and protective properties for diamond crystals which are used in drilling and saw tools in global oil, gas, mining and construction applications.

The new coating enables the retention of diamonds in tool metal for longer; protects the diamonds from aggressive metals used in tool manufacture which compromise their performance, and strengthens diamonds by filling-in defects within the crystals.

By addressing these issues the new Hardide coating will offer significant cost savings to drilling, mining and construction operations where tool durability and performance are important and downtime for tool replacement is expensive.

Jim Murray-Smith, Chief Executive of Hardide, said: 'This notable development is a result of our research and development strategy to ensure we remain at the forefront of the next generation of ultra-high performance coatings.

The global diamond tool market has estimated annual sales of US$5 billion and is based largely in the oil and gas sector where we have a proven track record and fast-growing customer base around the world.

Our plant in Houston, Texas opened on 1 September 2006 and is ideally located to capitalise on the potential of this coating in the US oil and gas market'.

The Company has also been granted patents for the coating in China, Australia and Russia and has patents pending in the EU (Europatent), Canada and Korea.

The new coating has been in development for ten years and has been successfully trialled with a major global energy industry company in the US.