NRW Holdings Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Golding Contractors Pty Ltd, has executed an agreement to acquire the mining services contract, associated fleet and transfer of the employees that HSE Mining Pty Ltd has deployed to Stanmore Resources Limited’s South Walker Creek (SWC) mine site, in Queensland, Australia.

The transaction value of A$85 million ($56 million) less assumed employee liabilities of approximately A$15.3 million, will be funded via NRW’s asset finance facilities.

The transaction will see Golding employ approximately 550 HSE personnel and operate the heavy mining equipment presently deployed at SWC. The mining services contract to be novated to Golding as part of the acquisition is expected to generate annual revenue of approximately A$250 million, and unless further extended by agreement between Golding and Stanmore, expires in August 2025.

South Walker Creek is an open-cut mine 35 km west of Nebo in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The mine has been operating since 1996 and adopts a multi-bench, open-cut mining method uising a dragline, and truck and hydraulic excavators. With a mine life of 25-plus years, South Walker Creek produced 4.9 Mt of high-quality low volatile PCI coal in the 2021 financial year. Stanmore Resources acquired BHP’s 80% interest in BMC in May 2022, becoming the operator of South Walker Creek.

Jules Pemberton, Managing Director and CEO, said: “I am delighted that NRW has been successful in acquiring the HSE Mining assets and inventory and securing the novation of the mining services contract with Stanmore at South Walker Creek. NRW, through our Golding and Action Drill & Blast businesses, has had a long association with Stanmore and I look forward to our teams continuing to deliver industry leading services. I also look forward to welcoming the HSE personnel into the Golding and broader NRW team.”

HSE and Golding are working through the transition arrangements, with financial close to occur at the end of July 2024.