PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Industrial services company WestStar Industrial’s engineering contractor business SIMPEC has been awarded a A$145-million contract to construct the wet processing plant at iron-ore major Fortescue’s Iron Bridge magnetite project, in Western Australia.
The wet processing plant will be central to the production of 22-million tonnes a year of high-grade magnetite concentrate.
SIMPEC will supply vertical construction services for the works, with an anticipated workforce of more than 500.
“This is an important milestone achievement for SIMPEC in the delivery of our company’s mission to deliver major projects to the industry. The award of the wet plant project represents our largest contract win to date with a first tier client,” said SIMPEC MD Mark Dimasi.
Fortescue recently revised the cost estimate for the Iron Bridge mine, and has pushed back first production until December 2022. The project is now expected to cost between $3.3-billion and $3.5-billion, subject to joint venture approvals, up from the original cost of $2.6-billion.