Mastermyne is seeking to expand its presence out of Queensland’s Bowen Basin and into the Illawarra and Hunter regions of NSW.
It will deploy Randall Freeman, who was hired last year from Vale’s Carborough Downs mine, to help with business improvement across the company, managing director Tony Caruso told ILN.
“Randall will be involved in the transitioning into the Illawarra,” Caruso said.
“Randall will be looking at the operations and safety performance and getting a health check on the organisation.”
Caruso said Freeman had wide experience in contracting and management roles and was proving to be a major asset to the organisation. His experience in NSW would also be useful in the new Illawarra contract, which was expected to be announced to the Australian Seucrities Exchange soon.
While Caruso would not confirm who the new contract was with, Mastermyne has a development contract with BHP Billiton’s Dendrobium mine.
The project scope for this contract includes the manning of one development unit to undertake scheduled development.
The works extend to the roadway advance in the main headings and carry out development works in the gate roads depending on the client's production requirements.
BHP Billiton last year announced the $US845 million Illawarra Coal – Appin Area 9 project, which will sustain the West Cliff and Appin mines for 20 years with capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum.
A new contract in the Illawarra would be a boost for Mastermyne, which announced in November that Centennial Coal had deferred its Newstan drivage contract.
The Newstan contract was a part of the company’s order book for the remainder of the 2013 financial year, but not part of the 2014 order book and beyond.
Caruso said Mastermyne’s tender pipeline had increased to more than $1 billion and the company would now look to these opportunities to replace the revenue lost from the early ramp down of the Newstan contract.
The company’s minesite diversity, strong balance sheet and high variable cost structure would ensure that the effect of the early ramp down would mitigate the impact to its overall business, he said.
