Gindalbie adopts new contracting model

GINDALBIE Metals has adopted an innovative contracting arrangement for its Karara iron ore project in the Mid West region, with an in-house team taking charge of the development.

The project is being developed by Karara Mining, owned by Gindalbie and its Chinese joint venture partner, Ansteel.

In the past week, it has announced three major contracts, awarding work to engineering companies WorleyParsons and AMEC Minproc, worth a combined $140 million, and to civil contractor NRW Holdings.

Traditionally, companies like Worley and Minproc are awarded engineering procurement and construction management (EPCM) contracts.

In this case, Karara’s in-house project development team will retain overall responsibility for project delivery while Worley has been contracted to deliver project management services.

This arrangement gives Karara’s in-house team the ability to select contractors with the best expertise for individual areas of work for the engineering, design and construction phases of the mine and infrastructure.

Under this structure, Worley will provide the majority of the required personnel, skills and systems to construct the project.

Using a similar model, Karara has awarded a construction management services contract to Minproc, to help manage construction of the project’s magnetite concentrator and associated processing plant facilities.

“The agreement with WorleyParsons crystallises a slightly different arrangement which we have put in place for managing the construction of the Karara Project,” Gindalbie managing director Garret Dixon said.

“While it may be a bit different from a normal EPCM, it certainly suits the management team, which has a strong contracting background.

“A similar philosophy has been incorporated in our contract with AMEC Minproc.

“These key engineering services and construction contracts have been structured to ensure that we have the best possible team available whose interests and focus are aligned with Karara and the PDT to ensure a successful overall outcome.”

Separately, Karara has awarded a staged earthworks and concrete construction contract, with a total value of $120 million, to NRW.

The earthworks and concrete package encompasses most of the preliminary construction work upon which the concentrator will be built.

The contract has a 14-month duration and will involve between 400 and 500 NRW personnel on site.

The total earthworks and concrete package will involve the pouring of more than 40,000 cubic metres of concrete, for which Boral has recently installed a special-purpose batching plant on site.