Tag Archives: Covalent Lithium

Macmahon’s Decmil to upgrade logistics links for Mount Holland lithium project

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Macmahon Holdings Limited subsidiary, Decmil, has been awarded a A$123 million ($83 million) road upgrade contract by Covalent Lithium Pty Ltd on the Mount Holland lithium project in Western Australia.

The scope of works includes upgrading the logistics link between the Great Eastern Highway and Covalent’s Mount Holland site, with approximately 113 km of road upgrades to take place.

Decmil commenced work on the project in August 2023 following receipt of a Limited Notice of Award in July 2023. Approximately A$59 million of works had already been completed during the 2024 financial year. Work under the full contract award is expected to directly create 220 jobs at its peak and be completed by April 2025.

The remaining value of the project works adds a further A$64 million in revenue to Macmahon’s secured order book supporting the 2025 financial year revenue guidance range of A$2.4-2.5 billion.

Macmahon’s CEO and Managing Directo, Michael Finnegan, said: “Decmil is off to a strong start in converting our A$11.6 billion tender pipeline having now secured approximately A$240 million of new work since Macmahon acquired the business in August 2024.

“The contract award at the Mount Holland Lithium project is the team’s second major road upgrade project since joining Macmahon, demonstrating Decmil’s strong credentials in this area, and I look forward to the successful delivery of the project for Covalent.”

Covalent has developed and is now operating the Mount Holland project, which, it says, is a unique, fully integrated producer of battery-quality lithium hydroxide in Western Australia. The company says it is targeting 75% recovery of spodumene in its concentrator and expects to produce more than 380,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate.

Thiess targets WA hard-rock mining sector expansion with MACA offer

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Thiess looks like gaining further market share in the key hard-rock mining market of Western Australia after having a bid accepted for fellow mining contractor MACA.

The all-cash offer to acquire 100% of the shares of the company at A$1.0251/share represents a 42.2% premium to the MACA one month volume weighted average price as of July 25, 2022.

MACA’s Board has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert concluding, and continuing to conclude, that the offer is favourable to MACA shareholders.

Thiess says it intends to operate MACA in materially the same manner supported by MACA’s workforce, brand and assets, and to continue its highly regarded community partnerships.

The proposed acquisition of MACA by the Thiess is consistent with its diversification strategy, with a particular emphasis on increasing its presence within metals and minerals hard-rock mining operations in Western Australia, it says.

To this point, the company’s Western Australian hard-rock mining exposure has consisted mostly of work with BHP’s Western Australian nickel assets, in addition to a recent contract award at the Covalent Lithium Joint Venture project.

MACA has exposure to the state’s iron ore sector thanks to contracts with Fortescue and BHP; the burgeoning gold segment through contracts with Regis Resources, Ramelius Resources, Capricorn Metals and Red 5; and nickel and lithium exposure from the Ravensthorpe mine and Pilgangoora project, respectively.

Thiess also said in its Bidder Statement that it sees “a significant opportunity to combine the operational capability of both companies to continue enhancing service quality, particularly in relation to technical solutions such as deploying autonomous machinery or reducing the carbon emissions of mining services on project sites”.

Back in March, MACA announced a partnership with SafeAI to form an MoU to retrofit a mixed fleet of 100 mining trucks across multiple locations with autonomous mining technologies.

Michael Wright, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Thiess, said: “We believe our offer is an attractive opportunity for MACA shareholders as it provides certainty of cash, a strong premium and an ability to achieve liquidity for their entire MACA shareholding. We are pleased to have the support of the MACA Board for our Offer.

“The proposed acquisition of MACA is an important part of Thiess’ strategy to diversify its operations across commodities, services and geographies. Thiess has a high regard for MACA’s service quality, and we believe our industry experience positions us well to enhance MACA’s value proposition to clients and employees. We recognise and intend to maintain and grow MACA’s strong brand and presence in the Western Australian market. Thiess also looks forward to supporting MACA to meet the evolving needs of its client base through promoting further investment in low emission and technology-led solutions.”

Thiess to deliver mining services to Mount Holland lithium mine JV

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Thiess says it has been awarded a four-year contract by Covalent Lithium to deliver mining services at the Mount Holland lithium mine in Western Australia.

Covalent Lithium is a joint venture between Wesfarmers and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), one of the world’s largest lithium miners.

Under the contract, Thiess will deliver drill and blast services, mining of overburden and ore, and equipment maintenance with a strong focus on community development and environmental protection, it said. Thiess commenced mobilisation and early mining operations in January.

Thiess Executive Chairman and CEO, Michael Wright, said: “We are very pleased to be selected by Covalent to undertake mining at the Mount Holland mine. This award recognises our team’s ability to deliver sustainable mining solutions and deliver enduring value for our clients across diverse commodities.

“We look forward to working with Covalent Lithium to safely position their operations for optimal efficiency, productivity and cost performance, and contribute strongly to a clean energy future.”

The Mount Holland Mine produces lithium-bearing ore that is concentrated and refined to produce lithium hydroxide, a mineral used to enable electric vehicles and battery-based energy storage systems. EPC contractor, Primero, is currently constructing the Mt Holland concentrator to process ‘run of mine’ ore at a rate of circa-2 Mt/y and produce an output of circa-400,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate to feed the company’s integrated lithium hydroxide conversion refinery situated in Kwinana.

Civmec to construct Mount Holland lithium concentrate refinery

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Civmec Ltd has been issued with a notice of award for a major construction contract in the resources sector at the Covalent Lithium Pty Ltd joint venture in Western Australia, as well as several infrastructure and maintenance projects, raising its order book to more than A$1.15 billion ($823 million).

The major construction contract is for the Mount Holland lithium project in Western Australia being undertaken by subsidiaries of Wesfarmers and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA through the 50:50 joint venture manager Covalent Lithium Pty Ltd.

The Mount Holland mine site will produce lithium concentrate, which will be transported to a refinery that Civmec has been tasked to construct. The refinery, to be located at Kwinana in Western Australia and within 10 km of Civmec’s flagship heavy engineering facilities in Henderson, will convert the lithium concentrate into high-purity lithium hydroxide monohydrate. Covalent says the refinery operations are expected to have an 85% recovery of the lithium contained in the spodumene concentrate, with the capacity to produce around 45,000 t/y of battery-quality lithium hydroxide.

The scope of work being undertaken by Civmec covers most disciplines performed by Civmec including structural and piping fabrication, SMP erection, refractory lining, insulation and E&I installation works.

Civmec expects to commence work on this project in 2022, with completion expected in 2024.

On top of this, the company says it has also continued to make traction in our efforts to secure more market share in the maintenance area on both the East and West coast of Australia with a new contract award for maintenance services for Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operations. It is also getting more work for maintenance and shutdowns from long-term client Roy Hill, and has recently completed work for a nickel producer in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

Civmec’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Tallon, said: “Demand for heavy engineering and construction services in the private and public sectors in Australia remains strong and these new contracts underscore, yet again, our strength as a top-tier contractor. Our efforts to generate more recurring income are also paying off as we are getting more work involving maintenance and capital works from both existing and new clients.”

Primero rewarded with circa-A$290 million Mt Holland lithium concentrator contract

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NRW Holdings’s wholly owned subsidiary Primero Group has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract related to the Mt Holland concentrator project in Western Australia for Covalent Lithium, a joint venture between Wesfarmers and SQM.

The Mt Holland project has been worked on in various development phases over the past 18 months between the Covalent and Primero teams, with the planning and works now culminating in the full award of the circa-A$290 million ($214 million) EPC delivery contract, NRW said.

Primero has been awarded the EPC contract that will process ‘run of mine’ ore at a rate of circa 2 Mt/y and produce an output of circa 400,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate to feed the company’s integrated lithium hydroxide conversion refinery situated in Kwinana.

The project scope covers the vertical delivery of engineering design of all disciplines, procurement of all equipment and materials, site construction, commissioning and performance testing of the spodumene concentrator at the Mt Holland site.

The full execution will commence immediately with site works planned to commence in October and an expected peak workforce of 350 personnel, NRW said.

Primero Managing Director, Cameron Henry, said: “The award of the Mt Holland EPC contract is the culmination of an 18-month journey with the Covalent Lithium team and demonstrates the trust and solid working relationship between the groups in the development of the project. This project is not only a flagship project for Primero and our parent company, NRW Holdings, but also a major project for Western Australia and the further development of the state’s battery minerals supply chain.”

NRW CEO, Jules Pemberton, added: “We are pleased to see the continued growth of the Primero business and, in particular, the scale of projects and quality of clients they continue to attract to the group.

“The project has created opportunities for the combined businesses and provides a great platform for other clients to understand the depth, capability and capacity of the group as a whole from early project inception and feasibility through turnkey multi-discipline delivery and further.”

NRW Holdings recently acquired Primero in a cash and shares deal valuing Primero at around A$100 million.

NRW’s METS business takes flight with Primero’s latest contract awards

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The first build own operate (BOO) contract initiatives, and the first major engineering, procurement, site support and commissioning contract in West Africa are some of the highlights from Primero Group’s latest contract awards.

The company, acquired by NRW Holdings earlier this year, has recently been awarded new contracts totalling circa-A$155 million ($114 million) with key clients. It has also progressed strategic initiatives that provide further strength to the group offering within the newly formed Minerals, Energy and Technology (METS) business under the NRW Holdings banner, NRW said. RCR Mining Technologies and DIAB Engineering also feature under the METS business.

“These include the award of the group’s BOO contract initiatives crystalising the strategic direction deployed by the group to enter the market of ownership and operation of processing infrastructure,” it said. “The equipment is designed, fabricated and constructed internally utilising the METS division companies and focuses on enabling the infrastructure to be relocatable, in alignment with other material handling products already being offered by the group.”

Primero has been awarded two key contracts with Mt Gibson Iron. The first is for the upgrade of the Koolan Island crushing circuit under an engineering and construction contract off the coast of Western Australia. The second is a two-year fixed crushing contract at the Shine development project in the Mid-West region of Western Australia under a BOO arrangement, with an option to extend.

Also, in the iron ore space and Western Australia, Primero has been awarded a four-year contract for crushing services at Atlas Iron’s proposed Miralga Creek operation in the Pilbara region. The contract provides crushing services for 2 Mt/y under a BOO scenario and will commence in early 2022.

In West Africa, meanwhile, Primero has secured its first major engineering, procurement, site support and commissioning contract for the Abujar gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, owned by Tietto Minerals. “The project award demonstrates the groups continuing growth and maturity in minerals processing engineering execution and diversity in capability across multiple commodities in the group,” NRW said.

The project is at a 3.5 Mt/y throughput scale with most of the contract revenue to be recognised in NRW’s 2022 financial year.

Back in Western Australia, meanwhile, Primero has been awarded the Mt Holland water supply pipeline construction contract from Covalent Lithium. The project follows on from the design services that Primero was awarded in October 2020 and completed including detailed construction planning and methodology for the 130 km pipeline and associated pumping facilities.

Site construction works have commenced, and the project is scheduled for completion in the March quarter of 2022.

As an updated note, Primero confirms the previously announced letter of intent with Panoramic Resources for the contract operations of the Savannah Nickel project has been finalised into a binding contract with a term of three years, as per Panoramic announcement dated April 6, 2021.

Work has already commenced in the preparation and operational readiness for the recommencement of the concentrator operations in-line with the announced restart plan of the mine in the September quarter with first shipments planned in December.

NRW CEO, Jules Pemberton, said: “The ongoing development of the METS pillar of the NRW Holdings Group is continuing to provide further success and market penetration within key client groups in our sector. Primero, as the newest addition to that group, has added significant capability and these recent contract awards showcase the diversity, capability and the expanding capacity of the group across multiple commodities and services.”