BHP Billiton Iron Ore and Fortescue Metals Group have announced plans to build and refurbish homes in Newman, Port Hedland and South Hedland, to a combined total value of $182.5 million.
BHP Billiton Iron Ore and Fortescue Metals Group have announced plans to build and refurbish homes in Newman, Port Hedland and South Hedland, to a combined total value of $182.5 million.
Spending the lion's share of the money, BHP's Iron Ore president Ian Ashby said his company's $150 million investment would help to retain existing employees and attract new people and their families to the region.
The company will build 64 new houses, refurbish an additional 37 and has purchased 18 new housing lots across Port Hedland and South Hedland, complementing the 55 new houses the company has built there over the past two years.
BHP has employed local building company Pilbara Constructions to build the first 19 houses at Cooke Point.
The mining giant will also construct 42 houses and 300 units, as well as refurbishing 75 houses in Newman - the referbishments to be completed by local firm Mahon's Asset Management.
BHP has also retained Nomad Building Solutions Ltd soon-to-be subsidiary McGrath Homes to build the 42 homes, signing a contact worth $16.2 million. Work is expected to commence in December, with the project due for completion in November 2007.
Nomad will also construct the FMG project, a 504 person accommodation village and an additional package of 200 rental accommodation rooms for the company's Cloudbreak Mine, due for completion in May 2007.
The news came as the company, which is due to fully acquire McGrath on December 1 this year, began trading on the Australian Stock Exchange today 35 cents above its initial public offer price.
Through the IPO, Nomad offered 78.3 million shares at an issue price of $1. The company has forecast an EBITDA of $22.5 million for 2006-2007.
For further news on Nomad's ASX listing, click here.
A BHP announcement is pasted below
$150 MILLION HOUSING UPGRADE APPROVED
BHP Billiton Iron Ore today announced it had approved capital expenditure of more than A$150 million over the next two years to build new housing and refurbish existing properties in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The housing projects will be split across Port Hedland, South Hedland and Newman and represent the largest single private or public investment in Pilbara accommodation for more than 20 years.
BHP Billiton Iron Ore President and Chief Operating Officer Ian Ashby said the investment in housing would play a key role in retaining existing employees and attracting new people and their families to the region.
"The recent growth in the resources industry has been fantastic for the Pilbara, however it has also brought with it a number of challenges, including providing high quality housing for an expanding and diverse workforce," he said.
"We have responded positively to this challenge by implementing a range of housing models which are designed to meet the needs of the Company and the workforce, while also contributing to the ongoing sustainability of both Hedland and Newman."
Work has already commenced on the 19 houses in Cooke Point, with the construction contract awarded to local building company, Pilbara Constructions. These projects will complement the 55 new houses BHP Billiton Iron Ore has constructed in Port (25) and South Hedland (30) over the past two years.
In Newman the Company has taken a leading-edge approach to meeting the more diverse accommodation needs of its employee and contract workforce.
Work has commenced on the refurbishments with the contract awarded to local building company, Mahon's Asset Management. BHP Billiton Iron Ore has also ordered the 42 new houses, with the first expected to arrive in Newman in early 2007.
One of the most dramatic elements of the Newman accommodation project will be the construction of 100 'Eco Units', which are among the most innovative types of housing ever seen in the Pilbara.
The units are both visually appealing and environmentally friendly, being constructed from recycled, or fully recyclable, materials. In addition, they have been designed to minimise the use of energy and scarce water resources.
Mr Ashby said one of the biggest challenges the Company faced in Newman was balancing the desire of the large contractor workforce to commute to and from the region with the ongoing sustainability needs of the town.
"Our solution has been to implement a 'semi-residential' model which allows our contract employees working at mines in close proximity to Newman to live in town while they are on shift," he said.
"This helps ensure benefits flow on to the community through integration and expenditure. In addition, these high quality accommodation units are allocated to one employee only, which allows people to stay in Newman when they are not on shift.
"Our key goal is to ensure development is sustainable through the commodity cycles and, while this model is limited by the distance from mining operations, we will continue to develop housing approaches that meet the changing needs of the Company, the workforce and the community. These will include a mix of permanent housing, semi-residential models and mining camp accommodation."
BHP Billiton Iron Ore is also working on further projects to improve the quality of its total Pilbara housing stock over the next five years. Announcements will be made about these projects at a future date.
