While two of its competitors are looking to sell their business, privately owned mining contractor Byrnecut Mining is diversifying its activities by establishing a new engineering and repair business in Pinjarra.
While two of its competitors are looking to sell their business, privately owned mining contractor Byrnecut Mining is diversifying its activities by establishing a new engineering and repair business in Pinjarra.
Byrnecut is planning to invest about $10 million in the new business, Murray Engineering, which will have about 80 staff by the end of next year.
“Over time we expect that to grow into a very substantial business,” Byrnecut managing director and co-founder Steve Coughlan said.
Murray Engineering will initially allow Byrnecut to repair and refurbish its fleet of underground mining equipment in-house instead of sending it out to third-party service companies.
It also plans to chase service contracts with mining and resource companies in the South West, such as Newmont’s Boddington gold mine and Alcoa’s bauxite mines.
Cloverdale-based Byrnecut, established in 1987, is one of Australia’s biggest underground mining contractors with about 1,000 staff.
Mr Coughlan said the group had increased its turnover to about $500 million, helped by its expansion from Australia to overseas markets. It has operations in New Zealand, Indonesia, Ireland, Kazakhstan and Burkina Faso, and will soon start mining in Zambia.
Unlike two other Perth-based mining contractors, Barminco and NRW, Mr Coughlan said the owners of Byrnecut were not looking to sell.
“We get approached from time to time but we tell them we’re not interested,” Mr Coughlan said.
Underground mining specialist Barminco, which had revenue of about $350 million in 2004-05, is considering a trade sale, with Leighton Holdings confirming last week that it had lodged an indicative offer for the East Perth-based business.
Leighton is already Australia’s biggest mining contractor, through its subsidiaries Leighton Contractors, Theiss, John Holland and HWE Mining, which it bought in 2006.
Welshpool-based earthmoving and open cut mining contractor NRW Holdings, which was the underbidder for HWE Mining, is understood to be considering a stock market float.
NRW recently moved into the engineering and repair business by buying Steve de Mol’s Action Mining Services in Hazelmere.
The keen interest in the mining services sector in WA was illustrated by NSW contractor Every Day Mine Services Ltd selecting Perth broking firm Carmichael Capital Markets as lead manager for its $8 million public share offer, launched this week.
Meanwhile, Murray Engin-eering general manager Martin Abbott said the company had bought a 5.5-hectare site in Pin-jarra and would start staged con-struc-tion of its facility next February.
The facility would eventually include a 5,000 square metre mechanical workshop, a 1,200sq m electrical workshop and a large training facility.
Mr Abbott said Murray planned to recruit its workforce from the Peel region, including from Mandurah. He anticipated that many workers currently on fly-in fly-out arrangements would be keen to secure permanent employment in the region.
Murray Engineering will be the anchor tenant for an industrial estate being developed by LandCorp in Pinjarra.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the industrial estate would comprise 90 hectares of land with 40 lots for light and general industry.
Development works at the estate will commence in June, with the construction of 17 industrial lots in stage one to follow soon after.
