PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed contractor Thiess has been appointed as the mining services contractor for the Olive Downs coal project, in Queensland.
The eight-year contract will see Thiess deliver full-service mining operations, including mine planning, overburden removal, drill and blast, load and haul, water management and rehabilitation, as well as construction of the mine infrastructure.
The company is expected to generate A$1.5-billion in revenue from the contract over the first five years.
Olive Downs owner Pembroke Resources in December last year secured A$500-million in financing for the development of the Olive Downs mine, after the North Australian Infrastructure Fund provided a loan facility of up to A$175-million earlier in the year.
The project is expected to require a capital investment of A$1-billion.
The Stage 1 project is expected to require a capital spend of A$450-million and will produce 4.5-million tonnes a year of steelmaking coal, which will be exported through the Darymple Bay coal terminal.
At full production, the mine could produce up to 15-million tonnes a year of metallurgical coal, with a mine life of nearly 80 years.
The project has a 838-million-tonne opencut Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource and a 514-million tonne reserve.
Thiess will start operations at the mine in the first half of 2023, subject to the finalisation of contracts.