World’s second largest miner Rio
Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE:RIO) has awarded a A$95-million
(about $64m) contract to NRW Holdings to begin pre-stripping activities at the
Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Work, to begin in November and expected to last for about 78 weeks, will be focused on developing initial mining pre-strip and infrastructure to enable the start of mining operations.
Koodaideri will have an initial annual capacity of 43 million tonnes, underpinning production of the Pilbara Blend, Rio Tinto’s flagship iron ore product.
The contract includes mobilization
and site establishment, clearing, drilling and blasting, as well as
construction of access roads and in-pit facilities among others.
At its peak, NRW expects to have
150 people working on site.
In November, Rio approved
a $2.6-billion investment in the Koodaideri operation, which will be the
company’s first intelligent mine, incorporating the latest in high-tech
advances in the industry and using an increased level of automation and
robotics.
The Koodaideri project is located some
35 km north-west of Rio Tinto’s Yandicoogina mine, and about 110 km from
the town of Newman.
The operation will have a capacity 43
million tonnes of iron ore a year, but could be expanded to yield 70-million
tonnes or more at a later date.
Production is expected by the end of 2021.