Parsons Brinckerhoff joins Roy Hill as consultant

Engineering group Parsons Brinckerhoff has signed on as a project management consultant at Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore development in the Pilbara.

The group said today that its role would be to manage contracts throughout the project’s execution phase, beginning this year before reaching completion in 2015.

The project is currently undergoing due diligence with international financiers to secure a debt facility for the mine, which is expected to be sorted mid-way through the year.

Parsons Brinckerhoff global mining managing director Mark Dimmock said the team would be led by senior directors with strong technical capabilities.

“This project spearheads the development of a new generation of integrated iron ore mining, rail and port operations,” Mr Dimmock said in a statement.

“This requires a team with an embedded depth of knowledge across the development lifecycle. Their knowledge and experience means we have the ability to counter project challenges as they arise with effective design and implementation solutions.”

The Roy Hill project is 70 per cent owned by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting; the balance is held by Japan’s Marubeni, South Korea’s Posco, plus STX Corp, and China Steel Corp.

POSCO and Marubeni each have 12.5 per cent while STX and China Steel hold 2.5 per cent. POSCO and STX had originally taken a small stake in the project in 2010.

First ore from the Roy Hill project is expected to be produced in the third quarter of 2015, delayed from initial plans for late 2014.

Early works at the Roy Hill mine that are completed or well advanced include port dredging, internal roads, four 300-bed rail construction villages, a 1,200-bed permanent village in Port Hedland and a $50 million corporate headquarters and remote operations centre in Perth.

A 344-kilometre railway will link the mine to port, while new ore handilng facilities, a stockyard and two berths will be developed at Port Hedland.