Decmil Group says it has secured a A$30 million ($22 million) contract from Rio Tinto to design and construct heavy vehicle (HV) and light vehicle (LV) facilities at the Mesa J iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The scope of the works includes the design and construction of a site laydown area, HV wash facility, mobile equipment maintenance workshop, bulk lube storage facility, and HV and LV tyre change facilities, it said.

Additionally, Decmil will deconstruct the existing HV wash facility and existing bulk lube storage facility at Mesa J. The contract is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2021.

Decmil CEO, Dickie Dique, said the contract award was a testament to the company’s ability to capitalise on a buoyant iron ore and magnetite market.

“We have now won two contracts with Rio Tinto in the space of a month, and, in September, we secured a A$41 million contract at the Iron Bridge magnetite project,” Dique said. “This validates our enhanced strategic focus on utilising our core capabilities to target a significant tender pipeline with blue chip customers in the resources sector.”

The Mesa J mine is part of the Robe Valley hub, which is owned by the Robe River Joint Venture. Rio Tinto has a 53% stake in the JV and is operator of Robe Valley, which has two iron ore producing mines in Mesa A and Mesa J.

On October 23, 2020, Decmil announced it was awarded an A$8.7 million contract from Rio Tinto to design and construct a laboratory facility at Mesa A.