Iron Mine Contracting bags Mt Holland lithium mining services contract win from SQM, Wesfarmers’ Covalent

Mt Holland lithium mine partners Wesfarmers and Chile’s SQM have handed a massive mining services contract win to Iron Mine Contracting. The value of the 39-month deal for drill, blast, load and haul, and run-of-mine management services was not disclosed but the Bayswater-based contractor said its order book now stands at more than $1 billion. Iron Mine Contracting was launched a decade ago and now operates 10 projects across WA, including for top-tier gold and iron ore clients Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group, Northern Star Resources, Gold Fields and Meeka Metals. The contract at Covalent’s $2 billion Mt Holland project near Southern Cross is not its first foray into lithium. It won a $240 million, three-year bid in 2023 to ramp up open-pit mining services at Liontown Resources’ Kathleen Valley project in the northern Goldfields. Wesfarmers’ share of spodumene concentrate production from Mt Holland in this financial year is expected to be between 160,000 tonnes and 180,000 tonnes. Construction on Covalent’s value-adding lithium hydroxide refinery in Kwinana achieved first production in July. Iron Mine Contracting chief executive Clinton Keenan said the competitiveness of the company’s owned asset strategy was increasingly being valued by mining companies. “As a privately owned contractor, we are investing in people and equipment ahead of the curve, maintaining an agility to deliver what our mining clients require from their mining services provider, Mr Leenan said. “That integrity in action, builds trust and enduring relationship with our clients, which is simply good business.” The contract will start in February and will see 220 workers mobilises to site to support the ramp up of Mt Holland.