PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals has awarded a A$1.3-billion contract variation to ASX-listed project house Leighton Contractors to mine the Kings deposit.
The new contract variation took the value of Leighton’s work at the Solomon Hub to some A$2.8-billion. This included a 2012 contract, valued at A$1.5-billion, to deliver the whole-of-mine management at the Pilbara project.
Fortescue CEO Nev Power said on Monday that the award of the contract marked another significant milestone in Fortescue’s expansion to 155-million tonnes a year, by the end of 2013.
“We’re pleased with Leighton Contractors’ performance at Firetail and we’re delighted to award them the contract at Kings. Our production capacity of 155-million tonnes a year will be achieved with the completion of Solomon, consolidating our position as one of the world’s largest, low-cost producers of iron-ore.”
The Solomon project consists of the Firetail and Kings mines, which would have combined 60-million tons a year production. The Firetail mine, which will produce some 20-million tons a year, was officially opened in May, and took the company’s global capacity to 115-million tons a year.