NRW-Eastern Guruma top JV

A JOINT venture between NRW and two east Pilbara indigenous groups has dominated the indigenous contracting space during the past 18 months, winning contracts with Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto worth a combined $780 million.

NRW Holdings, a Perth-based civil and mining contractor, partnered with indigenous businesses Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Foundation to secure two Rio contracts worth $130 million, and Eastern Guruma to win two Rio Tinto contracts worth $351 million.

All three businesses joined forces to secure three contracts at FMG’s Solomon site, worth a total $299 million.

Eastern Guruma holds native title over more than 6,500 square kilometres around Tom Price, while the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Foundation was formed in 1998 to deal with Woodside and its North West Shelf partners.

Under a $257 million contract with Rio, the NRW/Eastern Guruma joint venture will provide civil works and bulk earthworks at two sites across Western Turner Brockman.

During the past 18 months $1.1 billion of contracts have been awarded to joint ventures involving an indigenous partner, with Pilbara Logistics another stand-out indigenous business.

It formed a joint venture with Forge Group subsidiary Cimeco, called CPL, and won contracts with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto worth $41 million and $80 million respectively.

Pilbara Logistics founder Geoff Stocker is the majority shareholder in the joint venture, which won its first contract with BHP in May and was set to work on the first phase of non-process infrastructure at the Port Hedland site.

Pilbara Logistics also formed a joint venture with ToxFree Solutions to win a waste management contract with FMG worth an undisclosed amount, announced in February.

The two joint ventures account for 25 per cent of Pilbara Logistics’ work and Mr Stocker said the business would look to become one of the largest indigenous contracting services by securing large contracts in the future.

Georgiou Group and Gumala Enterprises is another recent joint venture partnership, formed in 2010. Georgiou owned a 70 per cent share of the joint venture and Gumala a 30 per cent share.

The partnership won its first contract with Rio Tinto for the construction of a $40 million tailings storage facility, and announced in July that it had won a subsequent contract with Rio worth $37 million to construct another tailings storage facility in Pannawonica.

Ngarda is the largest indigenous business in WA and announced in March that it had won a $104 million contract from Rio Tinto to deliver earthworks.

To this point, Ngarda’s $300 million contract with BHP to mine at the Yarrie iron ore project over five years is the largest independent contract held by an indigenous business.

AbiGroup and GLH Contracting formed a joint venture to win a $64 million contract with Rio Tinto at its Cape Lambert operations, while civil and mining company Brierty announced a joint venture with Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation to win work with Rio Tinto for constructing residential housing in Wickham in May.