The Xstrata Mount Isa Mining Expo opened last night with a gala launch at the Civic Centre.

More than 160 businesses from across Australia and the world rushed to set up their stalls at the Xstrata Entertainment Centre in Buchanan Park yesterday.

One company came all the way from the US to showcase its product. Florida-based Island Sky and Melbourne-based company Waternaut will show a machine that can produce water from humid air.

Island Sky technician Alex Niedermaier said Australia was the perfect place for the invention.

"You guys need water here more than anywhere else," he said.

"If you were going to design a country that needed this machine, you would pick Australia."

The machine was deployed to earthquake ravaged Haiti to produce drinking water, and the company had contracts with the US military. Waternaut national sales manager Brett Cope said the expo was the perfect way to showcase the machine.

The business will pitch their invention as an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic water bottles.

Other businesses have travelled from the south east of the state to promote their products.

Gtek Thermal Imaging manager Grant Law came from the Sunshine Coast to be at the expo.

"I have been told that this is one of the best mining expos to be a part of," he said.