The Perth-based company announced today that it has signed a binding share sale agreement to purchase a 49% stake in Newcastle-based Springsure Mining.

Springsure intends to build a training mine facility, alongside the development of an underground thermal coal mine.

The landmark agreement gives Humanis a unique selling proposition to supply minesite-trained personnel to the resources industry.

Humanis managing director George Gelavis said the agreement was “a tremendous opportunity for the company to make a real impact on the up-skilling of Australian workers”

“The opportunity to establish and utilise the proposed training facility in the training mine was based on the expectation that the widely acknowledged skills shortage in the mining sector will continue,” he said.

Gelavis said the facility would provide workers with an opportunity to be a part of the growing resources industry.

Springsure holds an exploration permit for coal, as a tenant in common for a four-year term ending in June 2014.

Initial capital required to develop the underground mine and facilities of the training mine is expected to be around $46 million.

An additional amount of around $10 million may be required to construct the training facilities in the training mine.

Humanis said the proposed training mine could be operational within the next three to five years.

The recruiter will acquire the 49% stake in Springsure through its wholly owned subsidiary, Resco Projects.

Humanis will initially pay $1.5 million to Springsure to meet exploration spending on the tenement.

It will also pay $2.2 million to Springsure for each 10 million tonnes of indicated mineral resource coal contained in the tenement up to a maximum amount of $11 million.

The funds will go towards a drilling program targeted at delineating sufficient mineral ore reserves to allow the commencement of feasibility studies.

Meanwhile, Humanis will also undertake a non-renounceable rights issue to raise $5 million to assist in the development of the training mine and for general working capital purposes.

Shares in Humanis are unchanged at 1.4c this morning.