Thiess wins $190m Leinster contract

CIMIC Group subsidiary Thiess has won a $190 million contract extension for mining services at BHP Billiton Nickel West’s Leinster underground mine, where it has operated since 2016.

The deal will include underground mining services and equipment, load and haulage, fleet maintenance and ore production.

The contract is for at least two years.

Cimic said ongoing work at the mine would be focused on lateral development, with about 600 metres of horizontal digging completed in the company’s first two years of involvement at the operation.

Cimic chief executive officer Michael Wright said the company had a close relationship with BHP at Leinster.

It comes after Thiess won a $225 million contract continuation with BHP Nickel West for mining at Rocky’s Reward in June.

That contract will last 34 months.

Other recent wins for Cimic have been in the coal space, where the company’s subsidiaries have secured about $1 billion of work since June.

The biggest such contract was for continuation of mining services at QCoal’s Bowen Basin hub in Queensland, valued at $480 million.

Shares in Cimic were up 1.6 per cent to be $49.67 each at the time of writing.