AusGroup awarded $30m Rio Tinto SMP Contract

14 September 2011

AusGroup Limited subsidiary, AGC Industries Pty Ltd (‘AGC’), a leading Australian based construction, integrated services and fabrication company, today announced, it has been awarded the structural, mechanical and piping (SMP) works on the Rio Tinto operated Dampier Incremental Expansion project, situated in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.

AGC’s role will cover the construction of two new conveyors, including transfer stations with shuttle heads; and construction of two new surge bins, complete with hydraulically driven belt feeders which, once constructed will transfer ore from the surge bins to the conveyors for loading onto waiting transport ships.

The work which will commence immediately has an expected completion date of March 2012.

“We are extremely pleased to support Rio Tinto in their ongoing expansion plans on the Dampier Project,” said Stuart Kenny, AusGroup CEO and Managing Director. “This opportunity strengthens our position within the Australian mining industry while our extensive SMP experience will ensure a safe and effective project delivery.”

The overall port upgrade will increase the Parker Point facility's ship loading capacity by allowing Fines ore to be continuously fed into surge bins. This involves using the surge bins to allow the continuous reclaiming of ore while the ship is undergoing a hatch change, after which the additional reclaimed ore is loaded onto the ship at a significantly higher rate.

The new system also uses one reclaimer to load Fine ore via existing conveyors and the other reclaimer to load via the new surge bins and ‘top up’ the belt, ensuring the conveyor is utilised at its full capacity.

With this contract award, AusGroup’s order book now stands at AU$315 million.

Ends