Located in the Hunter Valley region, the Mt Arthur Coal mine has been in production since 1968.
The new contract won by Thiess is for a period of five years. It follows the A$185m ($131.8m) contract given to it in March 2018 to provide additional mining services at the Mount Arthur Coal operation.
Since December 2016, Thiess has been providing load and haul services at the BHP coal mine.
CIMIC Group CEO Michael Wright said: “This is the third successive contract that Thiess has secured with BHP at Mt Arthur Coal. It recognises our team’s specialist mining capability within the Hunter Valley’s complex geology and our team’s ability to work flexibly with our client.”
The latest contract won by Thiess expands the scope to include additional services as mine operator of the southern end of the Mt Arthur Coal operations, covering the Ayredale and Roxburgh Pits.
Thiess, under the new contract, will carry out mine design, planning and scheduling services, drill and blast operations along with overburden removal and coal mining. The new scope of works at the Mount Arthur Coal operation will involve up to 300 new permanent, locally-based roles.
CIMIC Group mining and mineral processing executive and Thiess managing director Douglas Thompson said: “We have a proud history in the region and working with BHP. We’re pleased to continue our work at Mt Arthur Coal’s southern operations and support local jobs, suppliers and businesses.”
Estimated to hold recoverable coal reserves of 1,049Mt, Mt Arthur Coal is an open-cut coal mine with its mining operations centered on 21 unique seams, which were discovered and identified in the initial exploration activities carried out by BHP.
The thermal coal produced from the Mt Arthur Coal operation is supplied to both domestic and international customers in the energy sector.
In addition to the BHP coal mine, Thiess had bagged an A$480m ($353.7m) contract extension from Australian coal miner QCoal, earlier this year, to continue operations at the QCoal Northern Hub in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
