Tag Archives: mine contractor

NRW Holdings to start work on Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri iron ore project in April

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NRW Holdings has been awarded a bulk earthworks contract at Rio Tinto’s new ‘Intelligent Mine’, Koodaideri, in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The A$65 million ($46 million) work of works included bulk earthworks and drainage, the ASX-listed contractor said, adding that it was expected to run for 11 months, commencing on site in April.

Koodaideri is set to deliver a new production hub for Rio’s iron ore business and is 35 km northwest of the Yandicoogina mine in the east Pilbara.

In December, it was announced that Perth-based Pindan will build a 780-room construction camp at Koodaideri as part of a A$45 million contract award.

Construction on Koodaideri Phase 1 will start this year with first production expected in late 2021. Once complete, the $2.6 billion mine will have an annual capacity of 43 Mt, underpinning production of the company’s flagship iron ore product, Pilbara Blend.

In addition to mine infrastructure and the accommodation camp, an airport and mine support facilities will be built. Throughout the construction period, Rio expects to employ over 2,000 people with 600 permanent roles created once the mine is operational.

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.

 

DRA to push Dargues gold project forward to production

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DRA Global’s DRA Pacific Pty subsidiary has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Dargues gold mine in New South Wales, Australia.

Dargues is owned by Diversified Minerals, an associated company of PYBAR Mining Services. As a leading underground mining services company within Australia, Pybar will be developing and operating the project’s underground mine and other infrastructure, according to DRA.

DRA’s project scope entails the engineering, procurement and construction of a 355,000 t/y capacity gold processing facility and mine backfill plant at Dargues. The processing plant will comprise crushing, milling, flotation and filtration circuits and produce a sulphide concentrate for export. The mine is expected to produce an average of 50,000 oz/y of gold in the first six years of production.

Greg McRostie the Executive Vice President for DRA in the Asia Pacific Region, said: “This EPC contract further enhances DRA’s global position as the partner of choice for the delivery of projects to clients in the gold industry. Over the past five years, DRA has successfully delivered 10 projects and completed in excess of 35 studies for our client’s gold projects across the globe.”

DRA Global has been involved with Dargues since 2011, supporting Diversified Minerals through various studies and optimisations culminating in the final project execution phase about to start.

“This relatively long partnership and strong relationship developed over the project definition phase is a true reflection of the client focused approach of DRA,” McRostie said.

Site work will commence in February 2019 and first ore is expected to be processed in early 2020.

Pybar to move into underground development and production at Aurelia’s Peak Mines ops

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Pybar has recently signed a contract with Aurelia Metals to carry out all underground development and production mining activities at Peak Mines near Cobar, New South Wales, Australia.

The mining contractor has been at the operation since October 2017, providing underground development services and then labour hire to support the existing workforce, it said. This followed Aurelia Metals acquiring the operation from Toronto-listed New Gold.

Pybar CEO Brendan Rouse said: “We have a long-standing partnership with mine owner Aurelia having been contracted at its Hera (gold-lead-zinc) project since it started in 2013. We look forward to further strengthening that relationship, and our ties with the local Cobar community, as we expand our presence at Peak.”

The company said it is currently working closely with Aurelia to ensure ongoing employment for the Aurelia workforce at Peak Mines, should personnel choose to transfer. Some 40 additional new positions are also available at the site which Pybar is seeking to fill to achieve the increased production schedule.

The Pybar team at Peak Mines will be ramping up over the next few months with an initial tenure of five years and the potential to extend.

Peak Mines consists of a series of polymetallic high-grade orebodies dominated by gold, copper and zinc. There is a 750,000 t/y processing plant there, which takes ore from two underground mines.

MACA to refurbish Adaman’s Kirkalocka gold project in Western Australia

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Contractor MACA has wrapped up a strong year with a contract award from Adaman Resources at its Kirklalocka gold project near Mt Magnet in Western Australia.

The contract, secured through its subsidiary MACA Interquip, includes installation of a new SAG mill and refurbishment of an existing mineral processing plant at Kirkalocka. MACA expects to book some A$28 million ($20.2 million) for the works, which will commence in February with a duration of eight months. Some 40 personnel are expected to be required.

MACA said the contract award follows early involvement with the Adaman management team, enabling advancement in the design process and the submission of long-lead items. Commencement of the project remains subject to finalisation of Adaman’s project finance documentation.

Operations Director Geoff Baker said MACA Interquip has an excellent record of successful refurbishment delivery, hence the contract award.

“Our alliance with NCP International, who manufacture grinding mills and install complete comminution circuits globally, as an installation partner, will provide MACA Interquip with further exposure as an integrated mineral processing supplier,” he said.

“The recent contract awards for MACA Interquip demonstrates the success of the MACA strategy to diversify its services within the resource industry.”

This new contract ensures a strong order book for MACA Interquip for 2019 when added to the letter of intent for the refurbishment of the gold processing plant for Echo Resources. Other recent and ongoing work on processing plants includes the Savannah nickel project for Panoramic Resources (pictured) and the Degrussa copper project for Sandfire Resources.

Back in October, SMS Mining Services, which owns a 33% stake in Adaman, secured preferred contractor status for Kirkalocka, with the four-year contract consisting of open-pit mining services including load and haul, drill and blast, and mine development. SMS said at the time drilling was underway to extend the mine life beyond the current six years.

Byrnecut wins underground mining contract at WAF’s Sanbrado gold project

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West African Resources has awarded the underground mining contract for the M1 South deposit at the Sanbrado gold project in Burkina Faso to Byrnecut.

The contract, worth $110 million over five years, is Byrnecut’s second in the West African country.

Mobilisation activities are expected to commence in December with portal establishment planned for March.

Works under the contract include underground portal establishment for M1 South, decline and level development of 7 km, ore driving of 2 km and 200,000 t, stope production of 1.3 Mt, and raise drilling and cemented rock backfill.

West African Managing Director Richard Hyde said: “The underground mining contract is a key operational contract for Sanbrado and its award follows the completion of a competitive tender process and extensive due diligence process examining safety, experience and capabilities.

“We are very pleased to award the underground mining contract to Byrnecut who have a long history providing underground mining services globally and have current operating experience in West Africa.”

Byrnecut Group Executive Chairman Steve Coughlan said: “We are looking forward to partnering with West African on the exciting Sanbrado gold project. This project will be our second site in Burkina Faso and fifth project we have operated in the West African region.”

The M1 South underground will kick-off WAF’s mining development at Sanbrado, with the underground development accessing high-grade, free-milling gold mineralisation located directly beneath the proposed M1 South open pit at approximately 120m vertical.

Concurrent mining of the M1 South open pit ore from surface and underground will accelerate cash-flow over the early years of the Sanbrado mine life, the company says.