Bravus Resources has added BCF Concreting to its list of suppliers at the Carmichael coal mine, in Queensland, Australia.

The 100% Indigenous-owned business has been engaged to supply concrete to the operation, with the contract adding to the more than A$1 billion ($743 million) that has been paid to regional Queensland contractors and businesses since construction on Carmichael began.

Michael Davis, Managing Director of BCF, said the company was prepared to deliver extra concrete at short-notice for the mine.

“We were able to step in and work with Bravus at short notice because our technology enables us to both mobilise quickly and mix the right kind of concrete remotely and with precision,” he said.

“We had a team of six and one of our three volumetric mixing trucks on Bravus’ site within a few days and producing concrete not long after that.

“I have to say the Bravus commercial team was also great to work with, and the smoothness of that contracting process, together with the advantages of our new-to-industry technology, meant we were able to get this job done so efficiently.”

Bravus Mining and Resources CEO, David Boshoff, commended Davis and his Rockhampton-based team on their work.

“The Rockhampton region is a world-class mining service centre, but BCF Concreting blew us away with their professionalism, mobilisation time and technology-focused solutions,” he said.

“Responsiveness and on-time delivery is so important for us as we put the finishing touches on the construction, testing and commissioning phase of the project and move into full operations.”

BCF Concreting has a 30-year history and relocated to Rockhampton in 2019, drawn to the region by the promise of work with major projects.

A Torres Strait Islander, Davis said the company had built strong partnerships with Central Queensland’s Traditional Owner groups but had been waiting for the right opportunity to prove their capabilities on a major construction or civil project.

“We had done some subcontracting work on the Carmichael Project before but to be engaged by Bravus directly is a big step forward,” he said.

“We work with technology that’s new to the concreting industry, so part of what we do is about educating clients that the way it’s been done in the past isn’t necessarily the best way.

“Our volumetric mixers are similar to a mobile batching plant mounted onto a truck – we can get to site and start producing concrete within half an hour.

“We are getting traction, though, and as well as working with Bravus, we recently secured a long-term precast supply contract for a pipeline project in Central Queensland.

“The hope is as we win more major project work we can look at relocating the manufacturing arm of our business to Central Queensland to boost skilled employment for First Nations people even further.”

Carmichael has the capacity to produce 10 Mt/y of coal.