Swick wins Newmont work

Perth-based Swick Mining Services has won a number of new contracts and renewals with Newmont Mining, with 15 rigs expected to be in operation by early next year.

Swick’s contract has been renewed for underground diamond coring at Newmont’s Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory, while its contract for surface reverse cycle exploration at KCGM’s Kalgoorlie operations has also been renewed by Newmont.

The mining services company has ten underground rigs employed at Tanami.

Newmont also awarded Swick a new contract for underground coring at KCGM’s Mt Charlotte mine in Kalgoorlie, and for RC exploration and water bore drilling at Newmont’s Boddington mine.

“As a result of increased scope, a total of about 15 rigs are expected to be in use across all the Newmont properties early in 2016,” Swick said in a statement.

“The contract term is 33 months, effective from January 2016.”

The value of the contracts were undisclosed.

Swick managing director Kent Swick said the company would showcase its technology advancements on its underground drill rigs at the Newmont operations, where reduced manning levels and increased productivity are both achievable.

“These systems have been developed in-house as a result of the continuous improvement culture and the considerable engineering capabilities at Swick,” Mr Swick said.

“Our operations team has performed very well for a long period of time at the Tanami mine which is in a remote setting.

“They have maintained an excellent safety record as well as high productivity and the crews are looking forward to a new era of performance by implementing the new technology.”

Swick’s order book now stands at about $160 million of contracted work in hand.

Shares in Swick were 14.5 per cent higher to 11 cents each at 12:30pm.