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The five-year deal will commence in the June quarter of 2006 at the greenfields opencut mine, 35km south of Moranbah in central Queensland.
Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King this week said an increased presence in the contract mining sector would help the group ride out any possible downturn in the Australian construction sector in the next few years.
BHP Mitsui, which is 80% owned by BHP Billiton, hopes to increase production of coking coal for export to three million tonnes per annum by 2009.
Coal from the mine will be processed at a new preparation plant that was developed in agreement with Excel Coal subsidiary Millennium Coal.
Leighton Contractors deputy managing director Laurie Voyer said the company had been involved in project planning for the site with BHP Mitsui for the past year.
“To have secured a contract of this longevity is most pleasing and reflects the relationship we have developed with BHP Mitsui Coal and BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance in central Queensland,” Voyer said.
He said the project partners were developing a committed and high performance culture for the new operation.
There have been 20 staff recruited for the project already and Leighton expects to have a total workforce of 140 at Poitrel by late 2006.
The contractor will employ new equipment including 11 240-tonne capacity Caterpillar 793 trucks and two O&K RH340 excavators.
