Perenti Global’s African Underground Mining Services (AUMS) has secured a new two-year contract to continue operations at AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Mine in Tanzania.

The two-year agreement will take effect immediately and comes with a value of $186 million (100% share).

As part of the new contract, Perenti will transfer 20% of equity in AUMS Tanzania to a newly created mining support services company called BG Umoja Services Limited. BG Umoja is an 80:20 joint venture between Perenti group entities and local drilling services and mining supply company, Geofields Tanzania Limited, which will supply mining support services to the Geita mine.

The establishment of the BG Umoja JV demonstrates Perenti’s ongoing commitment to support and build local capability, generating enduring social and economic value for the regions in which the company operates, Perenti said.

The Geita Complex is located within the Lake Victoria Goldfields of the Mwanza Region, about 120 km from Mwanza and 4 km west of the town of Geita. The Geita Mine was originally an open-pit operation, however, transitioned to an underground operation in 2016. Since this transition, AUMS has worked collaboratively with AngloGold Ashanti to provide a full suite of integrated underground mining services for the mine.

AUMS Tanzania, supported by Geofields, will continue to provide AngloGold Ashanti with underground mining services while facilitating the development of improved underground mining technical capability within the broader Tanzanian workforce.

Mark Norwell, Managing Director and CEO of Perenti, said: “We are very pleased to be continuing our strong, long-term working relationship with AngloGold Ashanti at their flagship Geita Mine.

“Furthermore, this contract extension includes the addition of Geita Hill, a new underground development within the Geita Complex, which will see a steady increase in our scope of works and revenue run rate as the development ramps up from a single heading decline into multiple work areas and then into production later in 2021. This contract extension is expected to generate an improved earnings contribution for Perenti over the contract term.”

Perenti’s Mining Chief Executive Officer, Paul Muller, said Perenti first started operating in Tanzania in the late 1990s and the award of the contract extension at the Geita mine provided it with an opportunity to continue to partner with, and support numerous local businesses, suppliers and contractors.

“We look forward to expanding on these relationships as we seek to create enduring value and certainty for all of our stakeholders,” he said.