Civmec Sedgman JV’s $145m BHP win

A joint venture between Civmec and Sedgman has won a $145 million engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract at BHP Billiton’s Jimblebar iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

The scope of work involves the installation of a new primary crusher and additional conveying capacity, with the joint venture to begin immediately.

About 270 workers will be employed on the project at the peak stage.

Civmec and Sedgman are equal 50:50 partners in the joint venture.

“Following a well-structured and comprehensive tendering process, we are delighted to have secured the award of this important contract and the joint venture is very focused on ensuring we safely deliver this package of work effectively and to use this opportunity to further demonstrate our combined capabilities to BHP,” Civmec chief executive Pat Tallon said.

“We feel this award highlights the client’s confidence in our collective service offering and in particular our expertise in civil works and structural, mechanical and piping work.”

Sedgman chief executive Peter Watson said the company had an established track record of delivering projects in partnership with Civmec over the past three years.

“We are excited to be able to broaden this relationship to the iron ore sector,” he said.

In a statement, Civmec said its order book stood at about $260 million following the contract win.

BHP’s Jimblebar mine opened in late 2013.

Civmec, which is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, was unchanged at 40 cents at 12:30pm.

Meanwhile, it's been revealed that the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock, has cut its stake in BHP.

The US-based asset manager was BHP's biggest single shareholder, owning a 5 per cent stake.

But in a notice to the Australian Securities Exchange last night, BlackRock revealed it was no longer a substantial shareholder in BHP.