Tag Archives: Mark Norwell

Barrick tasks Barminco with turning Hemlo into Tier Two UG gold mine

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More than four months after Barrick Gold announced it intended to phase out open-pit mining and move to an underground contract mining model at its Hemlo operations in Ontario, Canada, a contract miner has been named.

Perenti confirmed its underground hard-rock contract mining subsidiary, Barminco, had received the nod from the gold miner, being issued a letter of intent to provide underground contract mining services at the mine, which has produced more than 21 Moz of gold over 30 years of operation.

Under the proposed three-year, circa-A$200 million ($131 million) mining services contract, Barminco will “bring industry-leading technology and productivity to Hemlo in support of Barrick’s goal to modernise and improve the performance of the mine and establish it as a Tier Two asset within its group”, ASX-listed Perenti said.

Barrick previously said the modernisation and refocusing plan at Hemlo was designed to turn it into a Tier Two asset with a life of mine well into the future.

Barminco’s scope includes undertaking mine development, production and haulage, using mining equipment provided by Barrick. Up until recently there was a significant degree of autonomy in the Hemlo fleet including trucks and LHDs from Sandvik and Epiroc.

Barminco said it anticipates employing more than 300 people at the operation, with works commencing in April.

Perenti Group Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said the contract award was another significant step in the group’s international growth strategy to enter attractive and stable mining jurisdictions.

“This is Barminco and Perenti’s first significant contract in North America and builds on our regional growth capabilities, after expanding into Botswana last year with an A$800 million contract. We look forward to supporting Barrick to deliver outstanding results at Hemlo,” he said.

Underground Chief Executive Officer, Paul Muller, said: “We are thrilled to be in a position to support Barrick to improve the performance of the Hemlo mine. We intend to work very closely with Barrick and all key stakeholders, including the incumbent workforce at Hemlo, the Pic River and Pic Mobert First Nations people and the Marathon community more generally to deliver a sustainable improvement in performance, thereby assuring the future of Hemlo.”

Perenti’s surface division awarded with A$155.5 million of new contracts

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Perenti reports its Surface Mining Industry Sector Group (ISG) has been awarded A$155.5 million ($103 million) in new and extended contracts.

The new work, extensions, and expansion of scope is across 10 projects, with highlights including:

  • A three-year contract (with options to extend) for production drilling services with Boggabri Coal Operations (a part of Idemitsu Australia Resources Group) at its Boggabri coal mine in New South Wales, Australia;
  • A three-year contract extension with a major iron ore producer for reverse circulation (RC) and grade control drilling at its Western Australian operations;
  • A 12-month contract extension with Consolidated Minerals to support current mining operations and regional expansion projects (which has mining operations in Australia and Ghana);
  • Expansion of services for a major mining contractor in Queensland, which will double the contract value across the current three-year contract duration;
  • A 12-month extension to existing works at Gold Fields’ St Ives and Granny Smith gold projects, in Western Australia, which involves land and lake rigs for air core, RC and diamond drilling; and
  • An equipment hire agreement with E&P at Gold Fields’ Damang gold mine in Ghana.

Perenti Group Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “We have been targeting a strong pipeline of surface and underground work and I am pleased we continue to convert these opportunities into secured contracts across a range of different projects in both Australia and Africa.

“These latest awards add to $165 million in surface work we announced in December 2019 and the A$200 million contract we recently announced for our Underground ISG.”

Panoramic looks to Barminco for Savannah nickel-copper-cobalt ramp up

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Perenti’s hard-rock underground mining subsidiary, Barminco, has been selected as the preferred contractor by Panoramic Resources at its Savannah nickel-copper-cobalt project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The contract, worth around A$200 million ($135 million), will see Barminco carry out mine development, production, and haulage over a three-year term. Work is expected to commence in March 2020.

Barminco anticipates it will employ around 170 people for the project and use predominately new equipment, which has been included in the capital guidance previously provided, to deliver the project.

Savannah, 110 km north of Halls Creek in Western Australia, saw mining operations recommence in December 2018, with the first shipment of concentrate departing Wyndham in February 2019. The miner is currently developing the higher-grade Savannah North orebody focusing on high speed development and a ramp up to full production in 2020, Perenti said.

Perenti Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “This project demonstrates our ability to capture organic growth opportunities, with the Barminco business now well integrated into the Perenti group whilst further embedding itself as a leader in underground mining.”

Underground Chief Executive Officer, Paul Muller, added: “We look forward to working closely with Panoramic Resources in driving the development of the Savannah North orebody safely and efficiently as it ramps up to full production.”

West African picks Ausdrill’s AUMS for Sanbrado open-pit mining

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Ausdrill, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, African Mining Services (AMS), has been selected by West African Resources as the preferred open-pit mining contractor for the Sanbrado gold project, in Burkina Faso.

Sanbrado, a low-cost, high-grade operation only 90 km from the country’s capital, Ouagadougou, will be the 14th commercial gold mine in Burkina Faso in 14 years. It is forecast to have average annual production of 217,000 oz/y of gold at all-in sustaining costs of less than $600/oz in its first five years of mine life.

The AMS scope of work includes a full suite of open pit mining services – including site preparation, drill and blast, load and haul, and maintenance works – over a five-year term, generating approximately A$235 million ($160 million) in revenue under a schedule of rates contract, Ausdrill said.

AMS anticipates it will employ some 190 personnel at the project, with the workforce to be predominantly local, and use a mix of new and existing equipment to deliver on the project.

AMS and West African Resources are in the process of finalising the contract terms, which will include the provision of an optional deferred payment arrangement for up to $10 million at a commercial interest rate, with works expected to commence in early 2020. West African Resources said mobilisation activities were expected to commence in November, ahead of open-pit mining commencement in January 2020.

Ausdrill Group Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “A key focus for the new Ausdrill group has been to enhance our surface operations in Africa and target substantial growth opportunities across a range of commodities in select African countries.

“Being selected as preferred contractor at the Sanbrado gold project is a significant achievement and represents the excellent progress we are making in building on the suite of quality projects on which AMS operates in the region.”

West African Resources Managing Director, Richard Hyde, said: “Sanbrado is the highest margin gold project in construction in West Africa and we are on target for approximately 300,000 oz of gold in the first 12 months of production. We look forward to partnering with AMS to bring this fully funded project into production in mid-2020.”

Ausdrill transformation starts to take shape following Barminco buy

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Less than four months after acquiring Barminco, Ausdrill says the integration of the two businesses is on target to deliver synergies of around A$11 million/y ($7.8 million/y) from its 2020 financial year.

This exceeds the previously stated target of A$5 million and is representative of both the new business structure Ausdrill has implemented and its growth strategy, the company said.

For the six months to end-December, Ausdrill said revenues were up 45.6% year-on-year to A$640.2 million, while underlying earnings before interest and taxes rose 27.6% to A$67.1 million. These results included two months contribution from the Barminco acquisition, which also included an additional 50% share in the two companies’ AUMS joint venture.

Ausdrill Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said the half-year results demonstrated the strength and diversity of the expanded Ausdrill group. “Importantly, the expanded Ausdrill group also secured over A$2 billion in new work since July 1, 2018, and successfully integrated the Barminco business, ensuring the company is set to deliver on its FY2019 guidance and is well positioned for FY2020.”

“Looking forward, we now have a more diverse and less capital-intensive group and have achieved this whilst maintaining a strong balance sheet that supports dividends and provides the flexibility to deliver on the strategy that has now been established.”

Ausdrill said the acquisition of Barminco made the company Australia’s second-largest mining services company.

Recently appointed Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “Ausdrill has done a great job in growing into a multi-national mining services company, but with the acquisition of Barminco and a refreshed structure, we have the opportunity to ensure the new Ausdrill has the best standards, a leading safety culture, and a constant focus on efficiencies to deliver for our customers, shareholders, communities and our 7,500 committed employees.

“In particular, a key focus is to transform our above ground operations in Africa, divest businesses that do not fit strategically, and ensure we are achieving best practice in the way we win and deliver work for clients across the group.

“We are also looking at ways to grow the business, such as expansion into new markets where we can have a competitive edge and into adjacent services that complement our existing portfolio.

“We expect to see continued strength in our core markets, particularly underground, and the Company remains on track to deliver its FY19 guidance of $98 million underlying net profit after tax.”

Ausdrill’s Barminco to go underground at Regis Resources’ Rosemont gold project

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Having recently closed a deal to acquire fellow contractor Barminco, Ausdrill has announced A$171 million ($123 million) in new work across the mining space.

Its Barminco business has sealed a three-year underground mining services contract with Regis Resources at the Rosemont project (worth A$113 million), in addition to receiving the nod to perform decline rehabilitation and development works at Western Areas’ new Odysseus mine. Meanwhile, Ausdrill has booked a 12-month contract from Consolidated Minerals for the provision of exploration drilling services at the Woodie Woodie manganese mine. This comes on top of a similar contract with Bellevue Gold at its namesake project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Ausdrill Managing Director, Mark Norwell, said: “These new projects demonstrate the diversity of the expanded Ausdrill group across different projects and resources, solid progress of Barminco, and the professional service our businesses have been providing to our customers.”

Rosemont has been a fully operational open-pit gold mine since March 2013 and is one of three Regis projects in the Duketon deposit area, 130 km north of Laverton in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

Regis recently approved expansion of the mine to an underground operation located directly below the current Rosemont open pit, with Barminco to perform development and production work at the underground deposit. In August, the Regis board announced it had approved the development of an underground mining operation directly below the current Rosemont open pit exploiting the maiden underground mineral resource estimate of 1.4 Mt at 5.1 g/t for 230,000 oz of gold.

Barminco will commence mobilisation immediately and expects to employ around 100 staff at the project. Onsite works will commence in the March quarter, including commencing portal development at the southern end of the Rosemont Main open pit.

Barminco CEO, Paul Muller, said: “This project adds to Barminco’s extensive experience in the Western Australia Goldfields, with current mining projects at Sunrise Dam and Agnew. We will draw on our deep capability across Barminco’s people, equipment, systems, processes, and expertise in underground mining to ensure we provide a safe and reliable service at Rosemont and look to build a strong, long-term relationship with Regis.”

Meanwhile, the company has already mobilised on the 14-month contract to carry out decline rehabilitation and development works at Western Areas’ Odysseus mine. The contract builds on Barminco’s 14-years of continuous service for Western Areas at Forrestania, which includes the Spotted Quoll and Flying Fox mines where Barminco is the mining services provider.

Ausdrill’s work at the Woodie Woodie manganese mine, in the Pilbara of Western Australia, will commence next month, will run for 12 months and will require five RC drill rigs and one diamond drill rig to be drawn from the company’s existing fleet.

The company has already kicked off work at the Bellevue gold project, which will require around four diamond rigs to be drawn from the existing fleet.