Underground hard rock mining contractor Barminco has been awarded a three year development and production mining contract at the Mount Lyell copper, gold and silver mine in Tasmania, owned by Copper Mines of Tasmania (CMT). The contract is Barminco’s second largest to date after Sunrise Dam, which was awarded in May 2011. Barminco will commence works on September 1, advancing decline development 3,600 m/y and producing 2.47 Mt/y of ore. The project will have a workforce of 200 personnel.

Barminco CEO, Peter Stokes, said: “We are delighted to be working on this project with CMT. During a time of market volatility where efficiencies are paramount, the award of this contract demonstrates our ability to value-add as a contractor and our capacity to deliver on our growth strategy.” The Mount Lyell copper mine, located in Queenstown, Tasmania, is the oldest, continually operating mining field in Australia with more than 100 years of operation. CMT is a part of the Vedanta group of companies. Earlier this year, Barminco was awarded the contract at the Renison Tin mine also in Tasmania.  It has also recently had its contracts extended at the Flying Fox nickel mine and the Agnew gold mine.