Water and wastewater treatment company De.mem says it has secured a 12-month A$780,000 ($564,868) operations and maintenance contract to manage potable water and sewage treatment plants at Rio Tinto’s Amrun bauxite mine in Queensland, Australia.

De.mem has operated the water treatment plant at Rio’s $1.9 billion operation since 2016 on a revolving monthly basis, with this contract, which began in January, providing it with business for at least a year.

De.mem CEO, Andreas Kroell, said: “This new purchase order is another great success for De.mem as it underlines our well established customer base in the mining and resources sector and our strong, recurring operations and maintenance business.”

In December, De.mem unveiled A$350,000 in new orders from municipal and resource sector customers, including one from South32’s Cannington silver-lead operation in Queensland.

Rio’s investment in Amrun is aimed at replacing production from the depleting East Weipa mine and increasing annual bauxite exports by around 10 Mt. Amrun, which shipped its first bauxite late last year, is expected to reach a full production rate of 22.8 Mt/y during 2019.