Barminco Awarded Dugald River Contract

In a strong start to 2012 Barminco Limited has added to its order book and expanded its relationship with Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) with the award of the underground development contract at the Dugald River project, located 65 kilometres northwest of Cloncurry in Queensland. The contract is valued at approximately $100 million.

The two and a half year contract at the zinc, lead and silver project encompasses the development of two exploration declines to access and develop the orebody with potential for extension of the term and scope of the contract after the initial development is completed.

Barminco maintains a long standing relationship with MMG providing underground mining services at the Rosebery mine in Tasmania since 2001.

Barminco CEO Neil Warburton said the addition of MMG’s latest Australian project to its contract list reflects Barminco’s strategy of maintaining a strong domestic business to support growth aspirations.

“Our partnership with MMG has grown over many years and it is very pleasing to be extending this relationship to the Dugald River project, and increasing our presence in the burgeoning mineral producing region of northwest Queensland,” Mr Warburton said.

Decline development for Dugald River will commence immediately and is expected to continue until June 2014, with annual development of 9000m and a workforce of close to 100 personnel.

The Dugald River contract takes the total of Barminco projects in Queensland to four, with other contracts in the region including Mt Gordon Copper Mine, Ernest Henry Copper Mine and Eloise Copper Mine.

The MMG contract comes on the back of a strong 2011 for Barminco with the award of over $600 million in new projects including the contract with AngloGold Ashanti for the Sunrise Dam mine in Laverton WA, the single largest contract in Barminco’s 22 year history and the second largest to be awarded in Australia.