Civmec’s Metals and Minerals division has been awarded a standalone civil contract to build the structural concrete components for the dry plant at the jointly-owned Iron Bridge magnetite project in the Pilbara of Western Australia.
The “Dry Plant Detailed Earthworks and Concrete” package was awarded by the owners of the project, Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary, FMG Iron Bridge Ltd, and Formosa Steel IB.
The project will see a new magnetite mine developed to support production of 22 Mt/y of high grade, magnetite concentrate product.
Civmec’s scope includes constructing the structural concrete components for the primary, secondary and tertiary crushing areas, screening areas, air classification and primary grinding areas, course ore stockpile, dry rejects, conveyors and all related earthing. It will involve over 350,000 cu.m of earthworks, the fixing of some 5,000 tons (4,536 t) of steel reinforcement and the placement of around 38,000 cu.m of concrete.
These works will employ over 200 of Civmec’s skilled workforce at peak, plus a commitment to engage with Local Aboriginal Enterprises, Civmec said, adding that the works will commence immediately with an expected completion in the March quarter of 2022.
Civmec’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Tallon, said: “Through our current delivery of works for Fortescue in the Pilbara, we have formed a strong working relationship built on transparency, trust and collaboration and reliable execution. Hence, we are extremely pleased to be given this further opportunity to continue to work with Fortescue on the Iron Bridge project.
“This is an exciting project of a very significant scale with a declared value for the overall project being $2.6 billion. The Iron Bridge joint venture has demonstrated and refined each step of the magnetite ore processing system and conducted full-scale trials to ensure the effectiveness of the process and gain confidence in the overall project success.”
This most recent contract award, combined with some other recent awards and scope increases on existing contracts, take the group’s current order book to circa-A$901 million ($625 million).