The Thiess Sedgman Projects joint venture (TSP) has been awarded a A$64 million contract for the design and construction of a 7.5 Mt/y (ROM feed) modular iron ore processing plant at Fortescue Metals Group’s (FMG) Solomon iron ore mine in Western Australia. This plant is an important element in Fortescue’s vision of operating the Solomon mine without the need for a new wet plant at the Firetail ore processing facility (OPF).

The modular plant will be delivered by the TSP, a project specific joint venture established by Sedgman and Thiess Pty Ltd.

Sedgman Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Peter Watson said the contract is the company’s first major iron ore project and represents a significant and successful milestone in its diversification strategy. “Sedgman and Thiess have an established track record of delivering coal process and materials handling projects over the last 12 years and we are excited to be able to broaden this relationship to the iron ore sector.

“The award of this contract followed an Early Contractor Involvement process and is testament to the process design and delivery capability that TSP was able to demonstrate to Fortescue. We look forward to delivering a successful outcome for the project and further strengthening our relationship with Fortescue.”

In its June quarterly report, FMG noted that “construction of a detrital processing plant at Solomon was approved at the end of May 2014. This facility will allow detrital ore to be processed, eliminating the need for an expensive wet plant addition to the Firetail OPF and freeing the Kings Valley OPF to process Kings CID ore. Early contractor involvement is underway and an award for the core processing facility is expected in July 2014. Project duration is estimated at 55 weeks at a cost of approximately $105 million.