Sedgman today announced that it has entered into a contract with Q Coal to design and construct a coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) at the Sonoma coal mine situated south of Collinsville in Queensland, Australia. The contract, valued at A$75 million, will see the construction of an 800 t/h CHPP with commissioning due in the second half of 2007. Once operational, the new facility will be able to process up to 5.8 Mt/y of coal.

Sedgman reports that the “signing of this contract symbolizes another milestone” in its “27 year history representing the largest contract in value independently undertaken by the company.” Managing Director, Peter Hay said the Sonoma contract was awarded to Sedgman without a tender process and was illustrative of Sedgman’s expertize and reputation in the design and construction of CHPPs.

The Sonoma mine is a ‘greenfields’ project which will produce both coking and thermal coal and has recently been awarded major project facilitation status by the Commonwealth government. “Sedgman has worked closely with Q Coal since the inception of the Sonoma project in developing the design for the CHPP and we are very proud to be part of this exciting project,” Hay said.  “The development of Sonoma evidences the continuing strong demand for coal and the need for coal infrastructure. With its ability to offer the full range of services to the coal industry from resource assessment, design, construction and operations, Sedgman remains in an ideal position to maximize its market position.”

Hay also confirmed that Sedgman and Q Coal are currently negotiating terms for an operations contract to enable the company to operate the CHPP on Q Coal’s behalf for an initial five-year term.