Fortescue Metals Group has awarded a contract worth A$18m ($12m) to Nyamal traditional custodians to deliver mining equipment for its Iron Bridge magnetite project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Under the terms of the contract, Nyamal will initially supply five contour drill rigs, one stemming loader, and two platform rigs.
Besides, the Nyamal traditional custodians will provide six more platform rigs over the next two years to support the Iron Bridge mine plan.
The new mining equipment contract adds to the A$331m ($222.7m) in contracts that were already secured by Nyamal businesses since 2019.
Nyamal Aboriginal chair Gavin Mitchell said: “Nyamal Holdings are excited to secure this significant contract for the Nyamal people enabling us to own the fleet which will provide ongoing training and employment opportunities for Nyamal members.
“Nyamal Aboriginal Corporation have strong and ongoing engagement with Fortescue, and we are pleased that through this contract we are able to build on this longstanding relationship.”
Located 145km south of Port Hedland, the Iron Bridge project is an unincorporated joint venture (JV) between FMG Magnetite (69%) and Formosa Steel IB (31%).
FMG Magnetite is a subsidiary of FMG Iron Bridge, which is owned by Fortescue Metals (88%) and Baosteel Resources International (12%).
The capital estimate of the magnetite project is $3.6bn-$3.8bn, with Fortescue Metals’ investment share in the project estimated to be $2.7bn-$2.9bn.
Fortescue Metals CEO Fiona Hick said: “The Drill and Blast program at Iron Bridge represents one of the most crucial aspects to achieving maximum throughput in the processing plant. We are pleased that we have been able to partner with Nyamal to deliver this important capability.”
The Iron Bridge magnetite project is expected to deliver 22 million tonnes per annum of high grade 67% Fe magnetite concentrate.
The first ore from the magnetite project was fed into the processing plant in October 2022.
According to Fortescue Metals, about A$3.6bn ($2.42bn) in goods and services have been sourced within Western Australia for the Iron Bridge project and operations.
