Indigenous mining contractor Ngarda Civil and Mining will more than double its workforce in the next six months after this week securing the biggest single contract awarded to an Aboriginal company in Australia.
Port Hedland-based Ngarda has struck a $300 million five-year deal with BHP Billiton Ltd to manage its Yarrie iron ore mine.
Ngarda will assume management of the Pilbara Yarrie mine in April from incumbent Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, which has a 50 per cent stake in Ngarda.
Ngarda is tiny in comparison to Leighton. It had turnover last financial year of $50 million and employs about 220 staff, of which 65 per cent are indigenous.
Ngarda executive chairman, Barry Taylor, said Ngarda would need to recruit an additional 250 people to fulfil the contract.
He said initially it would have to source non-indigenous skilled labour to meet the contract, but over time the company would be able to recruit and train indigenous people to more skilled roles such as geologists and engineers.
“We tend to not have much trouble getting [indigenous] people for labouring type of work, but one of the things we lack in indigenous communities is a lot of skilled trades like geologists and engineers.”
BHP Billiton Iron Ore president Ian Ashby said the $300 million contract was the largest ever awarded to an indigenous company and set a new benchmark for the engagement of indigenous people in the Pilbara.
“In future years I believe that we will look back at this as a turning point in the improvement of long-term opportunities in the Pilbara,” Mr Ashby said.
Leighton Contractors has held the Yarrie contract with BHP since 1998. A spokesman for BHP said the contract was not put to a tender but the switch would be cost neutral.
Ngarda was established in 2001 as a joint venture between Henry Walker Eltin Group, Ngarda Ngarli Yarndu Foundation and Indigenous Business Australia.
Leighton Contractors acquired a 50 per cent share in Ngarda early last year after acquiring some of the assets of Henry Walker Eltin, which fell into administration in 2005. Ngarda Ngarli Yarndu Foundation and Indigenous Business Australia retain a 25 per cent stake each.
