Rio Tinto has awarded a $115 million contract to Primero for its Koodaideri iron ore mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
The contract entails the design, fabrication, supply, construction, installation and testing and commissioning of the mine infrastructure area and associated facilities.
This includes the complete engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of the facilities for Koodaideri.
Work is expected to commence immediately and is scheduled for completion in mid-2021.
The contract award is set to create over 150 jobs at its peak.
Primero has also secured a phase two process upgrade works at Northern Star’s Pogo gold mine in Alaska.
Northern Star aims to increase the throughput of Pogo’s processing facility from one million tonnes a year to 1.3 million tonnes by January 2021.
The company is eyeing a phase three upgrade to increase the processing rate to 1.5 million tonnes a year over the coming years.
Primero expects to progress works at Pogo over the next 12 months, including detailed design and equipment procurement.
Elsewhere in North America, Primero has won definitive feasibility works at the Neometals battery recycling project.
Works are set to progress on the assessment of the Neometals process, with the demonstration plant entering the next phase prior to execution.
“The announcement of the new contract awards is particularly pleasing for the group and a real testament to the hard work put in by our teams over the past 12–18 months,” Primero managing director Cameron Henry said.
“From the early identification of projects such as the scale of Koodaideri and the strategic positioning and work completed from budget pricing through to contract award is another example of how Primero as a business has grown and matured over the years.”
Primero has hit record levels in its order book, with contracted orders for the 2020 financial year around $165 million, and the 2021 financial year at around $100 million.